


Always

by danny_the_coolest



Series: Written In The Stars [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, the gang's all here, well you get it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 48,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23572267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danny_the_coolest/pseuds/danny_the_coolest
Summary: Sometimes life is far more complicated than just friends-to-lovers.Or is it?Follow the story of Mel and Harry through their school years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: Written In The Stars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696750
Comments: 11
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this story pretty much my whole life, so I'm eager to share it everwhere I can, pls try to be nice, and if you got any comments try to not hurt my feelings a lot, I will assure you I'll cry -Danny
> 
> P.S. The writing is not at its best during the whole first book since I wrote it a while back, but I promise it gets better! I could edit everything, but it would make me doubt literally all I've written so far and I'm a coward, so you'll have to bear the bad writing at least for a while, pls don't hate me :c

_S_ _tories_ _are_ _told_ _like_ _they_ _were_ _made_ _for_ _the_ _people_ _in_ _them_ _._ _It is_ _our_ _job_ _to_ _understand_ _a simple_ _thing_ _:_ _that's_ _not_ _how_ _life_ _works_ _._ _The_ _world_ _is_ _way_ _more_ _complicated_ _,_ _it's_ _years_ _of_ _history_ _piled_ _into_ _little_ _actions_ _that_ _collide_ _in_ _one_ _end_ _,_ _people_ _are_ _born_ _so_ _others_ _can_ _change_ _the_ _world_ _,_ _this_ _is_ _why_ _we_ _can't_ _live_ _without_ _the_ _other_ _._

_This_ _story_ _is_ _about_ _a_ _girl_ _with_ _remarkable_ _power_ _, a_ _baby_ _that_ _grew_ _for_ _war_ _,_ _and_ _a_ _bond_ _far_ _more_ _stronger_ _than_ _any_ _magic_ _._

_It_ _all_ _started_ _with_ _two_ _kids_ _on_ _a_ _train_ _._

_But_ _first_ _, a_ _little_ _bit_ _of_ _background_ _story_ _:_

_Emily Sultens was the daughter of a Magizoologist and an Auror, both in their late forties when they had her, but always loving and caring, they gave her the best of the best. Emily grew up surrounded by all kinds of magical creatures and spooky stories from Dad's work. It was easy to say that Emily couldn't wait to have her own adventure, and when she got the letter from Hogwarts in 1971, she was ready to prove her value._

_Matt Dumbledore, on the other hand, was the only son of Aberforth Dumbledore. His mother, a humble witch who lived in a small village, died at the moment of birth. His uncle, the famous Albus Dumbledore found him and took care of him for most of his life, Matt lived in Hogsmeade during his childhood prior Hogwarts with his father, but Aberforth never addressed him as his son for reasons that only him and his brother knew._

_Matt grew up in a quiet, dusty home, He inherited his uncle's traits, a clever mind and infinite patience to get the things he so desperately wanted. Matt wouldn't allow anyone to compare him to his family members, he was his own person, and he'd create his own path._

_The Daily Prophet watched his every move, being the only heir of a long-lasting family known for their incredible talent, and the rumors surrounding his birth (many believed he was actually Albus' son) Matt grew up with thousands of rules he was ready to break._

_On September first, 1971 Matt and Emily met, and after a few years of friendship, they fell in love and had a kid: Mel Dumbledore._

__________________________________

Emily had spent the whole night watching over her daughter, she knew something was wrong when Matt didn't arrive.

When Dumbledore appeared on the doorstep holding Mel... well, she just knew.  
She was prepared for it, after all being an Auror, especially on times like this, wasn't easy. What she hadn't expected to hear was that only one survivor had been found: Harry.

Remus came to her as soon as he heard, both with a sense of betrayal since it was no one but their friend Sirius the one who told the Dark Lord where his friends were. She held Mel tight against her chest, the only logical thought being _'She's_ _alive_ _,_ _she's_ _with_ _me'_ until Dumbledore appeared again the next morning.

And of course, he had a plan. One that involved Emily and her daughter moving miles away from their current home. Emily accepted, she could only think of the thousands of memories she had of Matt in that house, and the ones that would never come.

Harry had an aunt, who was married and had a kid the same age as him, all she had to do was to move next door to keep an eye on the boy, make sure no Deatheaters would appear since things were still dense in the wizarding world. She had to make sure Harry would live to turn eleven.

Why she accepted, she didn't know. Maybe part of her thought it was cruel to pull apart the babies. Even if they were too little to remember, they shared a bond. Harry was her best friends' son. She couldn't turn her back on him, she would never.

So Emily packed her bags and that same afternoon she moved over to Privet Drive Nº5.

The young woman gave up on magic, she kept her wand safely hidden in her bedroom and raised her daughter in the muggle world, away from all the things that could hurt her. She knew that at some point Mel would find out, on her eleventh birthday to be precise, but it was all just too complicated. How would she tell the little girl that her father died in the hands of a murderer? How could she tell her that the boy living next to them was a legend from where they came from? No, she'd wait. Then, once Mel had her letter, she would explain everything.

"Was that everything, Mily?" Remus asked, putting the last box in the living room.

"Yes," Emily covered Mel's little body with a blanket, she then poured two glasses of firewhiskey and gave one to Remus.

"To the Potters," She raised her glass.

"To Mel... and Matt," Remus added.

She stopped for a moment, remembering the news article she read that morning.

"To the boy who lived."

Both of them finished their drinks in a matter of seconds.

_What_ _now_ _?_

_______________________________

Six years later after that quiet morning when Petunia had found Harry at her doorstep, things hadn't changed much on Privet Drive. Same bushes, same houses, same people. Time had gone by though, even if you didn't see at plain sight.

Mel was now seven years old, and she was a curious kid. She enjoyed playing in her room or her backyard, always keeping herself busy. Her mom never allowed her to leave the house unless it was for school, so whenever Mel wanted to feel accompanied, she always peeked through the neighbors' fence.

And every time without a fail, she would see him.

A scrawny, black-haired boy with damaged glasses. Always doing chores.

She was tiny, so when the boy got closer to the fence she wasn't able to see him anymore. So Mel went back to her house, grabbed a small stool, put it in front of the fence.

She stood on her tiptoes... and fell to the other side.

"Ouch!" The boy quickly squirmed away and looked at her, frowning, "W-What are you doing?"

"Ugh," The girl rubbed the back of her head and pouted, "Nothing! I... I live next door and I heard noises, so I wanted to see what you were doing"

She looked up to the boy, the first thing she noticed was his bright, green eyes hidden behind dirty old glasses, his hair seemed to be disheveled even though that day wasn't so windy and his smile was tiny but had a mocking undertone.

He also had a scar on his forehead.

"Are you alright?"

"What'd you think? I hit my head..." She groaned.

"You shouldn't spy on people"

"I wasn't spying! I just... I always see you out here," She shrugged, "I got curious, that's all"

"I know you," He replied, "you go to my school and get in trouble a lot, like me"

"It's not my fault," She grumbled, "Should we introduce ourselves? My mum always does it when we meet new people... I'm Mel, I'm seven and I've lived here since I was a baby"

"Nice to meet you," The boy hesitatingly reached for her hand, "Uhm, I'm Harry and I'm also seven, I've lived with my Aunt and Uncle since I was a baby"

"Oh, they aren't your parents?" She asked with genuine surprise.

"No," Harry shook his head, clearly displeased, "my parents... died when I was little"

"I'm sorry," Mel felt her cheeks sting from embarrassment, she let go of his hand, "I didn't know"

"That's alright," He scratched the back of his head, "What about your parents?"

"Just my mum. My dad... he's gone."

"We're not so different then," Harry smiled politely.

"I guess not"

They sat against the fence, one next to the other.

"Dudley is your cousin then? Not your brother?"

"We're not that similar are we?" He made a funny disgusted face.

"Not at all," Mel grinned.

"Why are you always inside your house?"

"My mum says it's safer, and I don't have tons of friends, my classmates think I'm weird cause I always have odd accidents"

"Me too!" Harry's eyes widened, "It happens whenever I'm upset about something"

"It's the same with me!"

The children stared at each other in amazement. They knew there was something between them, far beyond the mutual understanding.

Suddenly, a voice pulled them out of their thoughts.

"Boy, have you finished with those bushes?!" Screamed Harry's uncle.

"Mel, time for lunch!" Announced her mom from the kitchen.

Both of them stood up quickly and said in unison:

"I have to go!"

The girl started to walk away, to circle the fence. Harry waited until she was on the other side. Mel peeked through one of the cracks between the wood so she could see him one last time.

"See you Harry, I hope we can be friends"

"See you," He smiled, "I do too"

"BOY!" Harry jumped, rushing over to the back door of his house.

Mel went into the kitchen, excited to tell her mother all about Harry.

"Careful, it's hot," Her mother put a plate of soup in front of her, sitting beside her.

"I met our neighbor today," Mel said cheerfully, "his name is Harry"

"Oh," Her mom raised her eyebrows, "did you? How?"

"Uh, I talked to him through the fence," She lied, "He's nice and we decided to be friends now!"

"Oh," Repeated her mom, wasn't she happy for her? "that's nice, love..."

She got up from and walked over to the sink, feeling her heart beating harshly against her chest.

So Mel had finally met Harry, she was hoping it would happen soon, considering how much time did the kids spend in their houses, but now that it was happening, she felt scared. Why? Maybe cause time was running out, and she still wasn't ready to tell the truth.

Yet, a distant memory made its way back, the day she'd met her best friends...

________________________

_Emily_ _walked_ _nervously_ _through_ _the_ _hall_ _,_ _looking_ _for_ _an_ _empty_ _compartment_ _where_ _to_ _sit_ _._ _Suddenly_ _,_ _laughter_ _erupted_ _from_ _one_ _of_ _them_ _:_ _four_ _boys_ _where_ _inside_ _,_ _but_ _only_ _one_ _of_ _them_ _caught_ _her_ _eye_ _._

_Matt_ _Dumbledore_ _,_ _she_ _knew_ _that_ _he_ _was_ _about_ _to_ _start_ _Hogwarts_ _just_ _like_ _her_ _, (_ _she_ _heard_ _her_ _father_ _talking_ _about_ _it_ _the_ _night_ _before_ _)_ _and_ _knew_ _that_ _wherever_ _this_ _kid_ _decided_ _to_ _be,_ _she'd_ _be_ _there_ _as_ _well_ _,_ _the_ _mischief_ _was_ _certified_ _._

_"I_ _know_ _you_ _!"_ _Was_ _the_ _first_ _thing_ _the_ _little_ _girl_ _said_ _once_ _she_ _opened_ _the_ _door_ _to_ _the_ _compartment_ _, "_ _You're_ _Albus_ _Dumbledore's_ _son!"_

_The_ _boys_ _looked_ _at_ _her_ _in_ _surprise_ _,_ _staying_ _deadly_ _silent_ _._

_"Ah,"_ _The_ _boy_ _blushed_ _lightly_ _, "_ _he's_ _not_ _my_ _father_ _,_ _he's_ _my_ _uncle_ _..._ _uh_ _,_ _nice_ _to_ _meet_ _you_ _?"_

_The_ _girl_ _giggle_ _, a bit_ _embarrassed_ _as_ _well_ _but_ _too_ _excited_ _to_ _actually_ _worry_ _about_ _it_ _._

_"_ _Sorry_ _,_ _it's_ _just_ _that_ _I_ _knew_ _you'd_ _be_ _here_ _and_ _I_ _was_ _excited_ _to_ _meet_ _you_ _,_ _your_ _family_ _is_ _a_ _legend_ _!"_ _She_ _looked_ _around_ _to_ _the_ _rest_ _of_ _the_ _boys_ _, "Oh,_ _right_ _. I_ _haven't_ _introduced_ _myself_ _. I'm_ _Emily_ _Sultens_ _,_ _and_ _you_ _are..?"_

_One_ _of_ _the_ _kids_ _raised_ _his_ _hand_ _,_ _amused_ _by_ _the_ _outburst_ _of_ _the_ _girl_ _. He_ _had_ _messy_ _,_ _black_ _hair_ _and_ _a_ _funny_ _smile_ _._

_"I'm James_ _Potter_ _,_ _nice_ _to_ _meet_ _you_ _,"_ _The_ _boy_ _shook_ _her_ _hand_ _and_ _then_ _moved_ _the_ _trunk_ _from_ _the_ _seat_ _in_ _front_ _of_ _him_ _so_ _she_ _could_ _join_ _them_ _._

_"I'm_ _Remus_ _,"_ _Said_ _the_ _boy_ _next_ _to_ _the_ _window, he_ _had_ _dark_ _circles_ _under_ _his_ _eyes_ _and_ _small_ _,_ _thin_ _scars_ _covering_ _his_ _face_ _._

_"_ _Sirius_ _,"_ _The_ _last_ _boy_ _sitting_ _in_ _front_ _of_ _her_ _talked_ _. He_ _had_ _pretty_ _eyes_ _and_ _the_ _darkest_ _hair_ _she'd_ _ever_ _seen_ _._

_"_ _And_ _I'm_ _Matt_ _," He_ _leaned_ _in_ _to_ _shake_ _her_ _hand_ _, "_ _but_ _I_ _guess_ _you_ _knew_ _that_ _already_ _..."_

_"_ _Yes_ _,"_ _She_ _replied_ _smiling_ _, "_ _the_ _newspapers_ _mention_ _you_ _all_ _the_ _time"_

_She_ _eyed_ _him_ _up_ _carefully_ _, he_ _had_ _clear_ _blue_ _eyes_ _and_ _light_ _brown_ _hair_ _._ _She_ _liked_ _his_ _smile_ _a_ _lot_ _._

_"_ _Of_ _course_ _you_ _know_ _him_ _!" James_ _exclaimed_ _, "_ _he's_ _the_ _son_ _of_ _the_ _coolest_ _wizard_ _that's_ _ever_ _existed_ _!_ _Aberforth_ _Dumbledore_ _:_ _the_ _guy_ _that_ _turns_ _people_ _into_ _goats_ _..."_

_"_ _Actually_ _,"_ _Remus_ _spoke_ _up_ _, "_ _that_ _title_ _belongs_ _to_ _Merlin_ _._ _Uhm_ _,_ _the_ _one_ _about_ _the_ _greatest_ _wizard_ _,_ _not_ _the_ _goats_ _"_

_"_ _Yes_ _!"_ _Sirius_ _threw_ _a_ _fist_ _in_ _the_ _air_ _, "_ _you'll_ _be_ _the_ _smart_ _one_ _of_ _our_ _group_ _"_

_The_ _boy_ _hugged_ _Remus_ _so_ _fast_ _he_ _accidentally_ _dropped_ _the_ _books_ _he_ _had_ _on_ _his_ _lap_ _._ _Matt_ _picked_ _them_ _up_ _and_ _put_ _them_ _on_ _top_ _of_ _a_ _trunk_ _._

_"_ _Thanks_ _,"_ _Remus_ _grunted_ _,_ _pushing_ _Sirius_ _away_ _._

_"No_ _problem_ _," He_ _smiled_ _._

_Emily_ _and_ _the_ _boys_ _kept_ _talking_ _for_ _a_ _while_ _,_ _after_ _a_ _few_ _minutes a_ _little_ _girl_ _with_ _bright_ _, red_ _hair_ _and_ _a_ _quiet_ _boy_ _with_ _funny_ _clothes_ _joined_ _them_ _. James_ _had_ _an_ _argument_ _with_ _the_ _small_ _kid_ _,_ _and_ _the_ _redhaired_ _girl_ _joined_ _the_ _fight_ _._

_"_ _Let's_ _go_ _,_ _Severus_ _"_ _Said_ _the_ _girl_ _,_ _standing_ _up_ _and_ _walking_ _away_ _in_ _outrage_ _._

_"Oh_ _sorry_ _,_ _we_ _didn't_ _mean_ _to_ _hurt_ _your_ _ego, I'm_ _sure_ _you're_ _used_ _to_ _be_ _treated_ _like_ _royalty_ _"_ _Emily_ _huffed_ _._

_The_ _boys_ _laughed_ _,_ _but_ _the_ _girl_ _glared_ _at_ _her_ _,_ _clearly_ _upset_ _._

_"Look_ _who_ _says_ _it_ _, Miss_ _pretentious_ _,"_ _She_ _turned_ _around_ _and_ _grabbed_ _Severus_ _by_ _the_ _arm_ _,_ _pulling_ _him_ _away_ _from_ _their_ _compartment_ _._

_"_ _See_ _you_ _,_ _Snivellus_ _!"_ _Replied_ _Sirius_ _between_ _laughs_ _._

_____________________________

_'Four_ _years'_ She thought, _'only_ _four_ _years_ _left.'_

"Mum, are you okay?" The little girl asked, worried about her mother's strange behavior.

"Yes," She took a deep breath before turning around, smiling like nothing had happened, "I'm just a bit sleepy, that's all. Eat now, before it gets cold"

Mel nodded and complied, eating in silence.

Emily knew it was only a matter of time before she found out. And Harry... well, as closer the better.


	2. A Birthday To Remember.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~Mel had a sinking feeling in her stomach since the morning started, she was worried, it was a difficult day. Harry's cousin's eleventh birthday.~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read this far: I love you. -Danny

Mel had a sinking feeling in her stomach since the morning started, she was worried, it was a difficult day. Harry's cousin's eleventh birthday.

Since they were little, the Dursleys made extraordinary parties for Dudley: Buy him the best cake, the best presents and they would have his best friends over to go visit the zoo, or the movies, or a park. Harry though, would usually stay behind, with their old neighbor Mrs. Figg, since they kept refusing her mum's help.

Sometimes she would sacrifice her own fun to go over to Mrs. Figg, spend her time looking at cats' photos and eating musty food, all to help Harry. It wasn't exactly the best help, but she would sneak chocolate bars and cookies, that was something.

"What has you all pouty, sweetie?" Her mum asked, putting a strand of hair away from her face.

"Dudley's birthday," Mel sighed, supporting her head on one hand.

"Is Harry going with Mrs. Figg, then?"

"Dunno, I guess. Do you think they'll let him stay this time?"

"You've tried every year since you met him, love" Her mum chuckled.

"Can I try again, please?" The girl insisted, squirming on her chair.

"Honey..." The woman sighed, knowing her daughter won't be calm until she asked, "alright, go. But don't get all heated if they say no."

"I promise I won't," She hopped off her chair and walked towards the exit, "I'll be back in a minute!"

Mel quickly made her way to the Dursleys' front door, knocking a bit too harsh. The door swung open and she met the familiar set of green eyes and messy black hair. He was wearing an old raggedy grey shirt and trousers two sizes too big.

"Hi, _Glasses_!" She grinned. "Just got up?"

"Don't call me ' _Glasses_ ," He replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly and letting her in. "Why are you here? You know is Dudley's birthday, if he sees you he'll start to throw things out the window"

Mel scoffed, stepping inside.

"He can get upset if he wants, I'm here to help you escape"

Harry thanked her with a silent smile and took her towards the kitchen. The routine was normal at this point, Mel comes in and asks the Dursleys if Harry can stay in her house instead of Figg's, the Dursleys politely ( _not so much_ ) tell her the decision has been made and she can leave the house with no worries ( _and then Mr. Dursley would proceed to kick her out_ ) to yet another unsuccessful attempt to make Harry's life a bit better.

As they walked side by side, she noticed she'd grown taller than him by two inches. She thinks, smiling to herself, that by the time both of them are fifteen Harry will barely reach her shoulder.

"Who was it, kid?" Uncle Vernon asked loudly, He frowned as soon as he saw the children, "Oh, it's you."

"Goodmorning, Mr. Dursley," Mel smiled politely, "I'm here to-"

"Mel!" Petunia squealed joyfully, "Take a cup of tea with us, dear! It's my Dudders' birthday today, are you here to give him a hug?"

Dudley's face got red from the thought of her inching closer, mostly cause he hated her as much as he hated his cousin. Dudley's afraid of her ever since she accidentally caused him to choke on a piece of cake on her ninth birthday.

His mother was ( _clearly_ ) not aware, she kept the undying hope that one day Mel and Dudley would grow up and get married to have what she called: _'Wonderful kids with the most charming smiles'_.

She thought Mel's perfect for her Dudders, she didn't know just how similar she was to Harry; Mel and her mum ( _and Harry_ ) made sure to keep it to themselves, otherwise, she would've been banned from his house years ago.

Vernon Dursley was different, he could sniff the oddness coming out of her, he knew that a kid that would voluntarily befriend his nephew was someone he had to keep an eye on, even if his wife insisted she was " _perfect_ ".

Dudley only kept his mouth shut cause he was scared Mel would try to kill him, even if it wasn't really her fault.

She still hadn't figured that out, How did that piece of cake fly out of the plate and into his mouth at such speed? She could only explain it as a miracle. Dudley was making fun of Harry and she wanted to shut him up in any way.

"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley but I had breakfast already," Mel stood in the middle of the room, unsure of how to continue.

"Petunia, she's here for the other boy," Vernon snarled.

"Oh," Petunia's expression immediately fell and turned into slight disgust, "is that so?"

"I'm sure you'll want to uh... leave Harry with a neighbor so you can spend a good afternoon," She continued, "my mum would be pleased to-"

"Mrs. Figg called already, sweetie," interrupted Petunia, "she broke her leg, so unfortunately we-"

"Oh!" Mel exclaimed happily, then tried to hide it, "Oh... no! Is she alright?"

"She can't take care of him," Petunia frowned, Vernon growled beside her like a really big, pinkish dog, "but of course, we don't want to trouble your mother, so I guess... I guess we'll take him with us"

"What?" Asked the three children in unison.

"P-Petunia, dear-" Stammered Vernon, spitting ham.

Dudley started crying. Not really, he wasn't much of an actor, but he only needed to show a bit of emotion and his mother would usually stir into action.

"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" He whined.

"That's alright," Mel felt pressured to convince the crowd, but she was still hopeful, "Harry can stay with us-"

"No!" Exclaimed Petunia, terrified by the thought, "I won't risk him causing an accident-"

She stopped like she had just revealed a terrible secret. Mel understood, she didn't want Harry going over to her house more times he'd already been cause she didn't know Mel and her mum knew about the odd incidents. If something were to happen, it would ruin her son's chances of marrying her. Which is of course, completely mad.

"Mrs. Dursley," the girl spoke slowly, trying to reach an agreement, "I can promise we'll be okay..."

"Mel, I think it's time you go back to your house," The woman replied with wide eyes, "go back now."

"I-"

"Let's go," Harry mumbled, leading her towards the door, "before you see Dudley's head exploding and Uncle Vernon spitting his breakfast on him"

"I can't believe she won't let you stay!" Mel exclaimed once they were at the front door, "They rather take you than leave you with us!"

"They think that if you discover I'm odd you'll tell the whole street," Harry sighed, "I don't know why that scares them, but it's better if we stop trying"

"I'll never stop trying," The girl stated, crossing her arms, "you're my best friend"

"I'll go to the zoo, this time" Harry retorted with a tiny smile, "I'm ecstatic"

Mel laughed, knowing that her friend meant exactly the opposite.

"You'll be fine? Promise?"

"I'll try to come back in one piece," Harry nodded, "at least we still have your birthday, remember?"

That was one thing both kids could still look forward to. Mel's birthday was mere days after Dudley's and Harry used to spend the day in her house, being her only friend, it was their favorite time of the year. Her mum would also bake a different cake for Harry, so they could celebrate their birthdays together (Harry never had a birthday party) she was hoping this year could be like the others.

"Yes," Mel smiled, "I'm still sorry though... good luck, Glasses"

"See you..."

The girl went back to her home, miserably dragging her feet through the entrance. The house was more silent than usual, but she didn't notice.

"Mum?" She spoke up, "They said no... but they're taking Harry to the zoo with them-"

She froze in the kitchen's doorway, looking at the people in front of her: Her mother, completely pale and with the most unpleasant expression she'd ever seen on her face.

And a very old man wearing half-moon spectacles and long, silver hair.

"Hello?" Mel said, walking over to her mother and hiding behind her, "Mum?"

"Mel," Her mother said softly, closing her hand in a tight fist, "I... I want you to meet Albus Dumbledore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post around five chapters today, see how it goes, then after that I'll decide how often I'll actually start posting everything else -Danny  
> P.S. Don't forget to comment if you like it!


	3. A Family Story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Miss M. Dumbledore,
> 
> The first room on the left
> 
> 5, Privet Drive,
> 
> Little Whinging,
> 
> SURREY'

_Dumbledore._

Her father's last name.

She came out from behind her mother's arm and stood there, attentive. The old man had to be something of her, for the looks of it he could be her grandfather, but she couldn't see a resemblance. Maybe an uncle? Why was he there?

"Goodmorning," The man had a deep stare that Mel felt she had seen before, "I supposed you don't know who I am"

"I don't," She apologized, "but you must be family"

"I am your great-uncle," He smiled, "of course, I'm less greater than what the name leads to believe"

"It's time?" Her mother asked behind her, the man nodded silently, "This is not how I had planned to tell her."

"Mum?" 

"When were you going to tell her, if I can ask? I know you got her letter a week ago," Dumbledore replied calmly, "I thought you would find relief on my support"

"I don't," The woman replied in an angry whisper.

"What are you going to explain to me?" Mel insisted.

"I'm here as more than a relative," Her uncle turned to her, "I'm here as your Professor."

" _Professor_?"

"You'll turn eleven in a week," He continued, "you're ready to start your first year at the school where I work"

"I'm not going to the same school as Harry?" She looked back at her mom, who was deadly quiet.

"This is for you," Dumbledore continued, handing her a letter.

Mel read quietly.

_**'Miss M. Dumbledore,** _

_**The first room on the left** _

_**5, Privet Drive,** _

_**Little Whinging,** _

_**SURREY'** _

She flipped the letter, it had a logo: _Hogwarts_. 

The girl ripped the envelope.

_'Dear Miss Dumbledore,  
_ _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...'_

Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This was surely a joke.

A witch? She couldn't be one, witches weren't real! She was just a clumsy kid... but... this could mean that she did throw that piece of cake to Dudley without touching it, and that made her feel proud.

"Mum?" Mel looked up, "What is this?"

"This is not right," Her mother shook her head, "this is private, Albus."

"I'm sure you feel that way, Emily," Dumbledore nodded, "but as you know, Mel is the last Dumbledore, and it's the first witch in my family in a long time. I'm sure you understand-"

"I understand that I'm not even free to decide how I'll tell my kid about her families' gifts," Her mum replied, "I'm sorry, you'll understand why this upsets me. I've been protecting Mel since she was a baby and you decide to appear unannounced..."

"I see why you're upset," Dumbledore agreed, "I'll go now if that's what you want"

Emily stood up and left it to her daughter so she could sit with him.

"There's no point. I'll make tea, you can tell Mel why you're here"

"It says I'm going to a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Mel slowly sat in front of the man, thinking that maybe she was dreaming, "is it real?"

"It's real, Mel"

"Are you..." Mel shifted eagerly on her seat, "Are you a wizard?"

Dumbledore looked over at the stove and suddenly, the teapot whistled loudly, the water boiling after mere seconds of being exposed to the flames. Emily jumped back, angrily putting the teapot away.

"I would appreciate if you had the kindness to let me know you're going to demonstrate magic inside my kitchen!"

"Are you a Witch too?" Mel asked in disbelief.

"I- Yes..." Her mother said distractedly, serving the cups, "I was careful to not show it with you. I promised I would keep you away from this until the time was right."

"Why?" 

"It's hard to explain... the Dumbledore family has a long and complicated story. I didn't want you to grow up surrounded by that"

"You lied to me. The things that happen to me... it's all because I'm magical?"

"Yes," The woman stopped serving the cups, tense, "you're too young to understand, love..."

"You were born when times were hard," Dumbledore added.

Emily took a deep breath and cleaned her face, turning around with the cups on her hands.

"I think this is enough, tell her what you must and then let me talk to her. Alone."

"Very well," The old man turned back his attention to Mel.

He then explained he was the Headmaster back at Hogwarts, he had the responsibility to visit the kids that grew up in the non-magic world to explain and introduce them to their new life as wizards and witches. The classes would start on September first and she had to buy all her school supplies on her own, she didn't know how were they going to afford it.

After an hour of listening to her uncle talk, he asked her:

"Do you have any questions?"

"I have many," Mel frowned.

Was her father a good wizard? Was the school close to her home? She had to move away until she finished her studies? Cause then she wasn't so sure she wanted to go, she didn't want to leave her mum alone, and Harry...

She had to ask about him.

"Is my friend also a wizard?" She asked, "His name is Harry Potter, he lives next door-"

"Dear, I don't think that's-"

"He is," Dumbledore smiled knowingly, "but you must keep it a secret now, Mel. He'll find out soon enough"

She was beyond happy, they weren't odd, they were _magical_!

"Why can't I tell him? He trusts me..." 

"It's complicated. Please, promise you won't tell."

"I..." Mel wanted to keep her promises, but she was also eager to let her friend know, Why couldn't she?

"Love," Her mum stepped closer, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Harry will find out, I promise. We have to be quiet in the meantime, you think you can do it?"

"I... I will," The girl agreed.

"You've done well," Dumbledore stood up, "Emily, I hope you can forgive me, I tend to be impulsive when I'm excited and I wanted to see my niece before the school year started."

"I understand," The woman walked Dumbledore to the doorway, Mel following suit.

"Goodbye!" She exclaimed excitedly.

When Dumbledore reached the door, he stopped and turned around.

"See you soon, Mel."

He disappeared into thin air.

"Amazing!" She whispered.

"We have to talk," Said her mum, "let's go upstairs."

Half scared that her mother would tell her she couldn't go, half angry that she hid information all those years, Mel followed her mother quietly.

Her mother didn't try to stop her. She apologized, explaining that when she was a baby, there was a war, one that put her in danger. Her parents had to hide her for protection.

Mel could barely understand it all, it was a lot of information in little time, all sounded too fantastic, _fake_. She asked her mother to stop the story and instead, asked the questions she really wanted to know the answers to.

"You and my father went to Hogwarts?"

"Seven years, I..." Her mum doubted for a second before adding, "I met my best friends there"

"I'll have a magic staff like the wizards in the books?"

"We use wands."

"Do you have one?"

"Yes," Before Mel could ask, her mother added, "I won't show it to you, in case you're planning on testing its powers"

"Alright," She huffed.

"Anything else?"

"How did my dad _really_ die?" 

She wasn't planning on asking so coldly, but now that she knew he wasn't a regular man, she assumed the story had something missing.

"He..." The woman shook her head, unable to speak, "Voldemort."

The bad guy from the war. She didn't want to hear the rest.

"If I go... I won't come back?"

"You'll come back every summer and during the holidays," Emily gave her a small smile, "you won't be far for long"

"Oh, then it's okay," The girl relaxed instantly.

"I hope you can forgive me. One day, you'll understand why I kept you away, when you're older."

Mel didn't agree, but she soon forgot as she heard her neighbors' car, parking on their entrance.

"Can I go say hi to Harry?" She jumped up from the bed.

"Mel..." Emily warned her.

"I won't tell him anything," She assured her, "please? I want to know how things went"

"...Be quick."

Mel rushed over to the Dursleys' house.

However, she never got to ask Harry how things went.

His uncle dragged him to the house while Dudley, wet from head to toe, walked out of the car covered by a thick towel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment if you like it and want to know what's next! :) -Danny


	4. A Vow.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'One evening, while Mel was reading a book about witches helping poor villages (she was starting to get very fond of those), she heard a window opening at Harry's house, thinking it was maybe Mrs. Dursley she looked up with curiosity. Instead, she found Harry.'

It wasn't hard for Mel to hide the truth considering that she didn't see Harry the next days after Dudley's birthday.

She knew another of his odds incidents had happened and Mr. Dursley had grounded him. She could only wait and hope Harry was able to get his letter.

Mel hated whenever Harry was grounded, not only because she had to attend to school on her own, but also cause they were terribly harsh on him, locking him up in that cupboard and not even feeding him, they were the reason why Harry was so thin and tiny.

She _hated_ them.

Mel told her mother as soon as she found out, Emily was pissed when she heard about it, she didn't have any right on Harry's upbringing and she didn't want the Dursleys forbidding Harry from seeing Mel, so they had no choice but to remain silent.

However, they had a rule for whenever those sort of things happened: As soon as Harry was allowed to leave his house, he would spend the majority of his free afternoons at her place. There, he could eat whatever he wanted, as much as he wanted (that also applied to Mel, so she was more than happy to welcome him home) and they would watch the telly with Emily.

This was also to avoid Dudley's gang, they loved chasing Harry around and punch him, all Dudley's idea of course. They never tried to hurt Mel, not because they were little gentlemen, but because Dudley was afraid, though he wasn't going to admit that.

One summer morning, Harry was finally free, they had planned to play all day and ( _this was just Mel_ ) wait for Harry's letter so they could talk and picture how Hogwarts would be.

She had made her part imagining half of the things: the classes, the people, the rooms. Although it wasn't half as exciting as waiting for Harry to find out.

One evening, while Mel was reading a book about witches helping poor villages (she was starting to get very fond of those), she heard a window opening at Harry's house, thinking it was maybe Mrs. Dursley she looked up with curiosity. Instead, she found Harry.

"What are you doing there?" She said with a tiny gasp, "They'll punish you again if they find you snooping around!"

"Uncle Vernon sent me here," He replied, "he gave me the room"

" _WHAT_?" She exclaimed, loud enough that even Dudley could hear her over his cries.

"I got a letter this morning," He explained, leaning his arms on the window sill, "I don't know what it said cause they took it away before I could read it..."

He told her about his strange occurrence and Mel fought the urge to go and fight Uncle Vernon.

"You have to find a way to read it!" She exclaimed, practically jumping on her bed from excitement.

"How didn't I think of that?" Harry teased, "Don't you think I want to find out what's in the letter too? I just don't know how to do it..."

"You ought to read it," She insisted.

Harry frowned, not because he was upset with her, he just thought of the situation as something strange.

Mel, on the other side, felt happy to have the revelation so close to her that she could barely sleep that night, waiting for Harry to hear the news. The next morning, he threw little rocks at her window from his own room and Mel opened it eagerly.

"So?" She asked with a big smile.

"They know I moved from the cupboard," He mumbled, totally confused, "How?"

_Magic. It was magic!_

"You should know," Mel shrugged, too anxious to pretend, "You should know if you read it. What did the letter say?"

"I couldn't read it again," He replied upset, "Uncle Vernon..."

"Oh no..." She felt her body go numb, "they can't do that! Those are your letters!"

"I have a plan," He said, talking lowly so Mel could barely hear him, luckily for both of them, the houses were close enough, "tomorrow, I'll be on time."

Mel waited, tired from yet another sleepless night, at the other side of the fence. She was now tall enough to gaze at Harry's garden.

She only had to see his face to know the day had started with another failure. Mel sent him back with words of encouragement and wishing for him to succeed next time.

However, the next day Harry didn't come out of the house, nor the next day after that. That night while the Dursley's were having dinner, Harry sneak up to his room and threw rocks at her window as it was now common. Mel hurriedly pushed it open.

"Where have you been?!"

"He boarded up every door!" Exclaimed Harry. 

"You keep getting letters?" 

"About a dozen," The boy seemed conflicted.

"I wonder why they just don't visit you instead of sending all those letters that aren't getting an answer," She pouted, being very careful of not mentioning names, "if they are so interested, don't you think?"

"Maybe they live in another country"

"Then how do they know you moved upstairs?" 

Mel was weighing the situation. Maybe, considering how things were going, her mum would let her tell Harry the truth.

So Sunday morning, Mel rushed to the kitchen and without saying ' _Goodmorning_ ', she took a deep breath and talked as fast as possible.

"Harry's letter arrived but his Aunt and Uncle won't let him read it and it's been a week and they're still getting letters but they won't let him touch them and now Mr. Dursley locked the whole family in the house cause he boarded the doors and windows and I think that maybe it's better if I just tell him what I know-"

"They're what?!" Her mother stood up, going over to the small coffee table on her living room, "I always knew those Dursley were mental, but I never imagined they would go at such extend just to avoid sending Harry to Hogwarts... I need to contact Dumbledore."

"Are we going to Dumbledore's house?" Asked Mel excitedly.

" _Professor_ Dumbledore," Her mother corrected her, "and no, I'm sending a letter."

"A letter?" She huffed, "That won't get to him soon enough!"

"Our letters do," Her mother gave her a pointed look.

After messily write down the message, she opened a drawer and grabbed something that looked like a tree branch... a wand.

"Is that..?" Before Mel could ask, her mother walked over to the window and did a soft movement with it.

Suddenly, after merely ten seconds, a grey owl appeared.

"Be as fast as you can," The woman said to the bird, Mel had the weird sense that it could understand her, "it's an emergency."

The animal stretched its paw and let Emily lace the letter. On a tiny bag around the bird's neck, Emily put what it seemed to be a coin.

When the owl left, Mel was convinced she was dreaming.

"How did you learn to do that?"

"Oh, is not a trick," Emily said, "they're trained"

Mr. Dursley was screaming outside, he sounded utterly pissed. Mel took that as bad news. She looked at her mother and Emily sighed deeply.

"Be quick."

When Mel left the house, she was greeted with a scene directly from her nightmares:

The Dursleys were carrying bags to their car, seemingly afraid of something. Harry, with a small backpack on his shoulder, came out of the house looking rather angry. She approached her friend while Mr. Dursley went back into his house to carry more things.

"What are they doing?" She asked.

"An avalanche of letters arrived this morning through the chimney," Harry sighed, "my uncle told us to pack our things and go..."

"You're leaving?" Mel felt a sudden rush of panic, "Is it permanent?"

The boy shrugged, knowing as little as his friend. Mel, afraid and terribly angry that things weren't going as planned, wished she could use her ' _powers_ ' to help him. But she couldn't, Mel could only throw her arms around her friend and hug him tightly.

"Don't go!" She cried, "You can stay with us! Don't leave!"

"I won't leave you," Harry's voice came out muffled.

"You'll leave and I'll be alone again, and you... you're my best friend!"

She wanted to talk about Hogwarts _so badly_ , why wasn't she allowed? Things weren't fair!

"I'll be back, I promise," he insisted, but his voice trembled a little and it made it sound like a lie.

Mel cleaned the tears away and stepped back, stretching out her hand for him to hold.

"Swear you'll be back and we'll still be friends no matter what."

"I swear," The boy replied, holding her hand and shaking it with certainty.

"Until the very end?"

"Until the very end."

Mel let go of his hand, still feeling very uneasy but hiding it under a kind smile.

"I won't leave you, _Glasses._ You're not getting rid of me that easily. I promise I'll help you," She assured him.

"Potter! Get in the car!" His uncle demanded.

Harry gave her a last, sorrowful look before obeying. She stayed there, watching as the car's shadow turned smaller and smaller as they drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope my work is appealing, I mean I love it either way, but it feels nice to be validated xdd -Danny


	5. Rubeus Hagrid.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yer a lot like Matt," He said after a few minutes had passed, "he always asked questions 'bout everything. Smart ones. He was bright, that one. Yeh have the same look as him and Dumbledore, but those are Em's eyes. Tho' yeh have his smile too..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Hagrid's dialogues are a freaking nightmare (but I still love him so much!!) -Danny

The next days were horrid, it had been years since she had felt so powerless, locked in her house with no one to play, even worse, knowing Harry had been kidnapped by the Dursleys. Her mum was anxious too, but she was better at hiding it. From time to time she would go over to the window and look around, Mel knew she was looking for an owl.

Then, on the evening of the second day, a loud bang on the door made them jump from their seats. Emily stood up and opened the door, gasping at the sight in front of her.

"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" A man, taller than anyone she'd ever known, was standing in the doorway, hair rustled and beard long and messy.

"Dumbledore," He said in a deep, rusty voice, "sent me"

"Why?" The woman asked, "Harry's not here!"

"He thought that Mel might wan' to come!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

His eyes looked around the room and landed on the little girl, hiding behind the sofa.

"Well look at yeh, Mel!" He laughed, "Look at yeh! Yeh've grown!"

"Do I know you?" She asked.

"He saw you when you were a baby," Her mother moved away from the door so he could come in, looking more tired than before, "he's an old friend"

"Oh," She said, standing up from the sofa, "nice to meet you, uh..."

"Rubeus Hagrid," The man walked up to her with heavy steps that made the whole house tremble, "keeper of keys in Hogwarts, bet yeh know about tha' now"

"I know about Hogwarts," Mel nodded, pleased to recognize the name.

"Hagrid," Emily closed the door, "I'm sorry, but did you just say that you're here to take Mel?"

"If yeh allow," Hagrid smiled, putting his hands inside his coat, "if not, I still wanted to deliver this to dear ol' Mel. Yeh turned eleven this month, don' think I forgot!"

He handed her a box filled with strange candies that she couldn't wait to eat.

"Can I go?" She asked her mother, "I promised Harry I would help!"

"I... I don't know," Emily looked over to Hagrid, "you know where Harry is?"

"Yes," He nodded, "we'll be there in no time"

"You have to be careful," She replied, "please Hagrid, the kids..."

"Dumbledore trust me," He made a careless movement with his hand that almost knocked off the lamp, "yeh'll have yer daughter back safe an' soun"

"I'll be good, I promise," Mel jumped, holding tightly to her mother's wrist, "Please?"

"I'll have to talk with Dumbledore one of these days," She huffed, "He keeps forgetting who is your tutor"

"That means I can go?" Mel held her breath.

"Bloody-" Emily groaned in frustration, passing a hand through her hair, "put on your coat and listen to everything Hagrid tells you. If you disobey you won't be going to any fun trips again."

Mel let out a short squeal and hugged her mother. 

It was hard to tell exactly what thing impressed her most: Hagrid or his motorcycle. The trip was wonderful, he answered every question the little girl had on her mind since Dumbledore's visit.

She learned many things that day, not only about the school but about how the wizards and witches behaved, she wanted to know how to act around others, she wanted to be prepared.

"My mum said she kept me away because of the rumors about my father's family," She frowned, "you know those rumors?"

Hagrid groaned.

"What yeh hav' to know Mel, is tha' Dumbledore is one of the most powerful an' bright of al' the wizardin' community. Many folks feel threaten' by it. Yeh should never feel bad abou' the family yeh come from. Not even once."

Mel nodded, although Hagrid hadn't answered her question.

"Yer a lot like Matt," He said after a few minutes had passed, "he always asked questions 'bout everything. Smart ones. He was bright, that one. Yeh have the same look as him and Dumbledore, but those are Em's eyes. Tho' yeh have his smile too"

Mel didn't know how to respond to that. She hadn't seen any pictures of her father, but she felt happy to find out that she was similar to him. A sting of annoyance went through her heart as thinking of all the years she spent away from where she truly belonged.

They got closer to what it seemed a place taken directly from a horror movie.

"Is Harry there?" She asked in disbelief.

"His relatives sure are odd, aren' they?"

"They treat Harry very poorly," Mel shook her head in discontent.

"Do they?" Hagrid frowned, "Would yeh mind telling me more?"

Mel told him everything she knew about the Dursley, watching as the anger grew inside Hagrid.

"We'll fix this al'right," was all he said.

When they landed outside the little cottage, Mel prepared herself for what was about to happen.

"Is midnight," Hagrid said, "Harry just turned eleven"

And without adding to it, he knocked loudly on the door.

**_'BOOM!'_ **

He knocked again, getting no answer.

He stepped back and said:

"Careful," And knocked down the door.

Mel jumped at the sound of the wood hitting the ground. Hagrid walked in and she followed, holding to his sleeve tightly, drenched from the storm. He lifted the door back in its frame. Mel remained behind his arm, cold, she moved along as he turned to face the Dursleys.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."

He moved heavily towards the couch, she moved slightly away from his body, looking around. Harry was right in front of them.

As Hagrid forced Dudley to get up by sitting on the sofa, she ran to her friend.

"Harry!" She gave him a tight hug, "I told you I would find you!"

She heard a loud gasp on her right, when she looked up she saw Mrs. Dursley staring at her with wide eyes.

Well, she won't be able to hide her oddness anymore.

"An' here's Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed, "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got your mother's eyes."

Hagrid then had a little discussion with Mr. Dursley that ended up in Hagrid destroying the rifle and calling him names. Petunia Dursley was horrified, she kept mumbling, ' _not her, not her..._ ' as if Mel being a witch was the same as having a terminal disease.

"How..?" Harry whispered in stunned wonder.

Mel moved away, so happy that she couldn't stay still.

"He went for me so we could find you."

"Harry," Hagrid had his attention back to them, "A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

Hagrid dug into his coat and pulled a box, this one a bit more damaged than Mel's. Harry took it and opened with trembling hands, inside there was a cake with ' _ **Happy Birthday**_ ' written with green icing.

Harry looked up to Hagrid and asked.

"Who are you?"

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

Mel was ecstatic, this was really happening! Soon enough Harry would know everything. Hagrid and Harry shook hands (more like Hagrid almost ripped Harry's arm) and then added:

"What about that tea then, eh? I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind"

Mel stifled her laugh with a hand, watching as Hagrid quietly prepared the tea. She crossed her legs and waited patiently, amused at how easily Hagrid could scare the Dursleys. Hagrid passed her and Harry warm sausages and she took one of them, biting into the food with a hunger she didn't even know she had.

"I'm sorry," Said Harry after a moment, "but I still don't really know who you are."

"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course"

Mel frowned, hadn't Dumbledore told him all the issue with the Dursleys? If not, then Hagrid was in for a treat.

"Er- no" Harry admitted, "sorry"

"Sorry?" Hagrid turned to look at the Dursleys, "it's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"

"All what?" asked her friend innocently.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid stood up suddenly, causing Mel to drop the last bit of her food.

Hagrid was angry, and though he looked pretty scary, Mel had to cover her mouth again to hide her giggles. It wasn't a funny subject, but she couldn't help herself.

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid seemed to think it over, going back to Harry, "but yeh must know about yer mum and dad. I mean, they're famous, you're famous."

"What?" He then looked at Mel, "My- my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"

That did take her by surprise, Mel hadn't heard about that specific thing at all.

"I don't know," She replied, "my mum never mentioned..."

"Yeh don't know," Hagrid seemed deeply affected by the news, "yeh don't know... yeh don't know what yeh are?"

"Stop!" Exclaimed Mr. Dursley suddenly.

There were a few screams here and there until Hagrid lost his patience.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," He turned to face the kids, "Harry, yer a wizard."

Mel stopped moving. 

_Finally_.

"I'm a what?" asked Harry.

Things happened fast. Hagrid handed him the letter and he quietly read it, Harry asked about the owl and Hagrid pulled a real, angry-looking owl -Had it been there the whole time?- from one of his pockets, and wrote a little note like her mother had done a few days prior.

Then he went back to the sofa and Mr. Dursley said he wouldn't let Harry go, and well, Hagrid called him something neither Mel or Harry understood.

"A what?" They asked in unison.

"A muggle" Repeated Hagrid.

_Muggle_. Mel didn't think it was proper to go around calling every non-magical person like that, but she would be more than happy to address the Dursleys as big ol' muggles from now on.

Then things stopped being funny all of a sudden. Mrs Dursley had an outburst and completely confessed every little nagging detail about Lily's (Harry's mum) past. _Blown_ _up_ , she said, was the way she had died.

Mel knew a total of three things about her father so far:

·They had the same smile.

·He was a curious man, always asking smart questions.

·He died thanks to Voldemort.

So when Harry asked what had really happened with his parents, she understood his shook, all his life living in a lie was infuriating. They knew so little about their families it felt like a cruel joke.

Mel didn't feel like laughing anymore.

"But what happened to Vol- sorry, to You-Know-Who?" 

"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful- Why'd he go? Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back."

"-Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – I dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him, all right" 

"I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."

Hagrid chuckled.

'Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared, or angry?'

Harry shared a look with Mel, who smiled shyly.

"You..?" He didn't finish the question, but he didn't have to.

"I kept it a secret a few days because they asked me to," She assured him, "I didn't know until Dumbledore- he's my uncle, you know- he came into my house and explained it to me. My mum was pissed about it, and they made me promise I wouldn't tell"

"Why?"

"I don't know," She frowned, "I wanted to tell you. I didn't like lying to my best friend."

"You're also a... a witch?"

Mel nodded.

"I would show you my letter, but I left it at home."

Harry looked back at Hagrid, now smiling widely. Hagrid returned the expression.

"See?' said Hagrid, "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts. Both of you."

But Mr. Dursley wasn't having any of it. He started another argument with Hagrid, this time insulting Dumbledore. Hagrid lost control, affected by the words, he grabbed a hold of his umbrella and with a swift movement, gave Dudley a tail. A _pig's_ tail, to be precise.

"Merlin's beard!" Mel exclaimed, deciding that it was about time she started to grow accustomed to the usual lingo of wizards and witches.

Hagrid apologized for losing his temper, he wasn't allowed to do magic since he got expelled in his third year at Hogwarts, he didn't explain _why_. He handed his coat to Mel and Harry so they could sleep in it, warning them about the dormice. 

The children didn't mind one bit, they were glad Hagrid had come to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all I'll be posting this week, pls do leave a comment if you like it, if you don't don't be mean, I'm an adult but won't hesitate to curl up in my bed and whine about it for the rest of the year -Danny.


	6. The Alley.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'There was movement around and suddenly Mel and Harry were greeted by a bunch of strangers, all looking as happy as the next. Many names went over her head because she was nervous and didn't know why were they all expecting them. They didn't know anything about her besides her name, what could they possibly be waiting for?'

It was the first time in days that Mel managed to sleep. After delivering the letter and saving Harry from his awful relatives, things were bound to get better.

Harry moved next to her, she groaned and hid her face under the coat.

"Not yet," She complained, "too early!"

"There's an owl," Her friend mumbled.

"Where?" She slowly opened her eyes.

Harry got to the window and let the owl in, it dropped a newspaper and went over to Mel, starting to nibble on Hagrid's coat.

"Don't do that," Harry tried to scare it away, "Hagrid! There's an owl..."

Mel watched half asleep as Harry paid the owl, she had examined the coins during her flight and was excited to meet Gringotts so she could see a real Goblin. Her mother had given her the key to her father's vault, asking her to take good care of it. Mel promised she would.

They left first thing in the morning, Mel noticed that the motorcycle was gone, so they had to take the boat. Harry kept asking questions about everything, things that she hadn't thought of and was as interested as him to know.

For example, her uncle had been offered the position of Minister of Magic but declined so he could keep teaching at Hogwarts. She felt intimidated if she was honest, Dumbledore seemed to demand respect, and she wasn't sure she could live up to that. If the things her mother and Hagrid said were true, people would be waiting to see her turn into something just as impressive, Mel didn't think she had it in her.

On their way to London, Hagrid asked the boy to read the list of things they needed to buy, Mel slid closer so she could read it too.

It was all sorts of interesting: The titles of their books sparked a feeling in her chest to read them all in one sitting, the uniform and equipment reminded her of the fairytales she had been reading all summer.

"This is it," said Hagrid, after walking for a while, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

Mel didn't know how that place could be famous, maybe it was famous in the wrong way, for its lack of lighting and how it _smelled_.

When they walked in, most of the people greeted Hagrid, they were all strange in a way that made her eager to start her education, she wanted to be like every single one of them: Accustomed to their magic.

When Hagrid told them he couldn't stay because he was on Hogwarts' business, the room fell silent.

"Good Lord," said the barman, "is this – can this be –? Bless my soul, _Harry Potter_... what an honour..."

The man rushed over to them and shook the boy's hand, then he glanced at Mel.

"And this lady..?"

"Mel," She said simply, then Hagrid gave her a gentle push and she cleared her throat, "uh- Dumbledore. Mel Dumbledore."

The man let out what sounded like a squeal and quickly held her hand.

"Miss Dumbledore! We were expecting you too, of course, but the both of you at the same time... What a day, what a wonderful day!"

There was movement around and suddenly Mel and Harry were greeted by a bunch of strangers, all looking as happy as the next. Many names went over her head because she was nervous and didn't know why were they all expecting them. They didn't know anything about her besides her name, what could they possibly be waiting for?

It lasted a while, even a man that was a teacher in Hogwarts greeted them, he was young and it reminded her to a little scared doggie, because he would tremble and stutter the whole time.

Hagrid finally took them out of the fuss and guided them to a back door, Harry and him talked about the young man -Professor Quirrell- and how he had a bad experience with some vampires. He came back terrified of his own shadow.

Mel had an icky feeling about it, she could have the same fate if she wasn't careful enough.

She wanted to be good, make her mother proud and live up to her last name, but it was going to be hard, she didn't know a thing about the world she was supposed to live in.

Hagrid pulled her out of her thoughts, hitting the bricks in front of them and magically forming an archway.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley"

Brooms, potions ingredients, robes, books, wands... truly a whole world for her to experience, and a whole lifetime to do so, too!

They reached Gringotts, white as every cloud in the sky and Goblins in every corner. Mel was a bit taller than them but she wasn't deceived by the looks, Goblins could be tough if they needed to.

Hagrid went to one of the desks and gave Mel and Harry's keys to the Goblin.

After a careful examination, he gave them back and then they were guided to their vaults. 

Hagrid also asked to see another vault: Number seven hundred and thirteen. He refused to say why. ' _Hogwarts' business_ ' he mentioned.

When they got to Harry's vault it was very impressive: Piles of coins everywhere! 

Hagrid explained how it worked: Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle. She made sure to memorize it.

Her vault was further away, Hagrid said that hers was older since it was the Dumbledore's vault.

When the Goblin showed what was inside she felt a strange rumbling on her chest, similar to looking at a warm dinner after a whole day playing outside. Mel wasn't thinking of it as a fortune she could spend, though. She thought about the security, she didn't have to worry about her mother barely making it till next month. She wondered why, if her mother had the key to this vault, she never tried to take a bit for them.

Then she thought that maybe her mother wasn't exactly able to buy groceries with galleons, so Mel understood why she went to gain her own money in the muggle world.

Again, Hagrid helped the kid to grab enough for a few terms and went back to the cart, looking pretty sick.

They arrived at the last vault, the " _Hogwarts' business_ " as Hagrid kept calling it.

Harry and Mel squeezed each other in the tiny space they had, fighting to get a better view of a... completely empty vault. The girl sat back with a huff, disappointed. Harry tugged at her sleeve and discretely pointed to something on the floor: a tiny package wrapped on brown paper.

Hagrid collected it and sat back on the cart, the children shared a confused glance before preparing for the trip back to the surface.

Once out and about, Hagrid sent the kids to get their uniform while he went over to the leaky cauldron for something that could calm his dizziness.

Once there, the old lady asked them to get to the back of the store where another boy was trying on his robes. He had a sharp chin and cold eyes, he also looked terribly bored.

The problem started when he talked.

A bunch of rubbish, she would say. Even if she understood very little, she could tell what kind of person he was through the tone of his voice. When Hagrid appeared outside of the store and Draco called him a savage, it took everything in her to act politely.

Once out, she angrily whispered to Harry:

"What an _idiot_ ," She shook her head, "I hope that whatever house-thing we end up in, it's not Slyth-whatever..."

"Why?" Harry asked, "just because that boy might be there?"

"I refuse to share anything in common with him!" She faced forward with her head held high, "He's annoying"

Harry grinned.

"What?" She looked over to him, "What's so funny?"

"You looked like Aunt Petunia"

She looked at her friend in outrage.

"Don't be rude!" Harry laughed harder, Mel tried to stay mad but she inevitably joined in.

Harry had been quiet for a while, it was weird in him after spending the whole morning making questions. Mel tried to make him laugh, but he only paid attention to the task at hand and bought his equipment silently.

Mel did too, assuming that her friend would talk when he felt ready. He acted like that when something annoyed him and she knew him enough to be patient.

After they bought a good amount of quills and parchment, Harry spoke up.

"Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know – not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry.

"I don't know either," She patted his back softly, "you shouldn't worry about that boy, Glasses"

"What boy?" Asked Hagrid.

The two kids told what happened back in Madam Malkin's and Hagrid was quick to shrug off all of their worries. Although Mel already knew all that: Blood, knowledge, or families shouldn't matter as long as you do your part and you're good at it.

Or at least, she _hoped_ so.

Then they talked about Quidditch -She could definitely become a fan- and the Houses back in Hogwarts. Apparently, Slytherin had a terrible reputation because _Voldemort_ was there when he was young.

Next, they went for their books and potions ingredients.

"A gold cauldron!" Mel laughed, "Are you trying to get mugged? You can't walk around the streets with that!"

"I just thought it was more resistant than the normal ones!" Harry blushed, "Shut up!"

"Sure," She snorted, "you've been rich for what, thirty minutes? And you're already showing off..."

"I'm not," He pushed her away lightly.

"Mr. Potter, would you like me to hold the bags for you? I could hire an assistant for your needs, I see that the extra work is making you moody"

Harry tried to hold back, but when Mel bowed and opened the door for him, he burst out laughing.

Then Hagrid said he would buy Harry a present and Mel beamed at the idea.

"What are you going to get him, Hagrid?"

"He doesn't have to!" Insisted Harry, "Don't ask!"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at – an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin."

"An owl!" Mel exclaimed, "They're so pretty, Harry! We could send letters to my mum once we're in school!"

"I-I..." Harry was bright red, it had been a while since Mel had seen him so flustered and she was delighted.

"Let's go!" She took his hand and dragged him towards ' _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ ' with Hagrid following them.

"You'll have an owl, I'm so jealous," Mel said under her breath, "my mum would never allow me to have one, she'd say they're dirty..."

"I don't think Aunt Petunia will be pleased either," Harry replied.

"Oh, but who cares? They won't annoy you now"

"You don't know that," Mel examined each owl with care.

"I do," She smiled, "they don't know you aren't allowed to do magic"

Before Harry could reply, Hagrid got inside the store and looked around, he asked Harry if he had anything in mind and the boy shook his head.

"What do you think about this one?" The little girl asked, pointing to a snowy white owl.

She got closer to it, her hand dangerously near the cage. However, the owl didn't try to bite her, instead, it inched closer, grazing her fingertips.

Harry got closer too, looking at the owl.

"I do like it," He admitted, "Hagrid..?"

"Yes of course!" Exclaimed the man loudly, "it's yer birthday after all, whatever yeh want, boy"

All the way to the counter, after they were outside the store, Harry still was stuttering his gratitude. Mel stayed behind on purpose, but when she got back, she examined the list on her hands.

"Now we need our wands, Hagrid," Interrupted Mel.

A wand! Hagrid told them that they weren't allowed to do magic outside the school, but Mel was about to _start_ school, so she wasn't too worried about it. Only a wand would tell her exactly how much like her father she was.

So they went over to ' _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._ ' Mel walked in, feeling her skin tingling almost as if the wands were telling her to inch closer.

"Good afternoon," Said a voice on her left.

Harry and Hagrid jumped, taken by surprise. Mel was too eager to feel anxious, she got closer to the counter.

"Hello," She smiled.

"Hello," Said Harry beside her, only a bit more awkward than her.

"Ah yes," The man smiled, "I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harry Potter."

He then looked at Mel, it took him a moment.

"You look a lot like your mother," He nodded, "but I can see there's a Dumbledore behind those eyes."

He watched the kids closely.

"Miss Dumbledore, if you please," He moved away from the counter and started measuring her body. Then the tape moved on its own while the man rummaged through the shelves.

She tried exactly three wands. Oak, then maple, then oak again.

"English oak with phoenix feather, twelve inches and a half, slightly elastic flexibility," Ollivander said.

Mel felt revived, that wand somehow welcomed her home.

She waved it a little and bright blue sparks shot out.

"Very good!" The old man cheered, "It seems you have found your match, Miss Dumbledore, congratulations! Mr. Potter, it seems to be your turn now..."

Harry, as usual, was a bit harder to find. A pile of wands was blatant proof of it.

Ollivander didn't seem to care as he kept bringing more wands with a delighted expression. After a while, he came back holding only one box, he had an odd look on his face.

He gave it to Harry, and the magic (quite literally) was immediate. Mel and Hagrid clapped and cheered, but Ollivander was in his own head, he kept murmuring to himself.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar."

Mel watched her friend's wand carefully, frowning at it as if it could act on its own and only did bad things.

"Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember ... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter ... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."

"I don't think so," Mel said out loud, "I'm sorry Sir, but he wasn't great. He was nothing but a murderer. My friend will grow up to be much better."

Ollivander, instead of getting angry at the girl, chuckled lowly.

"Let's hope you are right, Miss Dumbledore. After all, your family has the reputation of being almost always right on what they say."

Mel stayed silent. If people kept reminding her how important her family was, she did not think she'd bear it for long. 

______________________

The kids didn't feel like talking, not even on the train when they were close to going back to their relatives.

Hagrid bought them lunch and insisted so much on their attitude that they decided to share their worries.

"Everyone thinks I'm special," Said Harry, "all those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol– sorry – I mean, the night my parents died."

Mel nodded without speaking, she was chewing a big chunk of her food.

The girl waited for Hagrid to end his speech about how they would blend in easily with the rest of the kids to add:

"I hope you're right, I barely know who my dad was and now they want me to be exactly as his side of the family. I can't do that, I'm not wise or clever..."

"We know," Added Harry, teasing his friend.

"Sod off, _Glasses_ ," She nudged his arm.

"Emily will pick yeh up from the station," Hagrid said once they were saying their goodbyes, "here are yer tickets fer Hogwarts..."

Mel and Harry pressed their noses against the glass to watch Hagrid, but he was gone.

"Sometimes I still think I'm dreaming," sighed Mel getting back to her seat, "it's all too good to be true, don't you think?"

"Why didn't you tell me about your letter?" Harry asked.

She should've known. He was smart, Harry would never forget that his only friend hid the truth from him.

"I'm sorry," She said honestly, "I told you, Dumbledore went to my house and explained everything. I wanted to tell you right away! But he... he made me promise..."

"I thought we were best friends."

"Are you really mad at me, Glasses? I rescued you!"

"Hagrid rescued me, you just were with him!"

"Okay, yes," She rolled her eyes, "but I was _there_ , just like I promised"

Harry lowered his head, frowning.

"Glasses," Mel repeated, "didn't I keep my promise?"

"You did," He replied quietly, "at least I won't have to go to school with that horrid uniform my Aunt was making for me, it was all Dudley's old clothes..."

"Gross," The girl grimaced, "oh, I almost forgot! I have a present for you!" 

She pulled a tiny package from her jacket and handed it to him.

"Happy Birthday!"

"It's a..." He squinted, tearing up the paper, "a _mouse_?"

"It's a toy for your owl!" Mel smiled, "I bought it after you left the store"

"Then is not exactly _mine_ , is it?"

"Well, no," She grinned, "but I think you've been too spoiled for today and that's actually useful, it will keep her busy while she's on her cage."

"You're loopy," He rolled his eyes, putting the mouse inside the owl's cage.

"Shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't mind me, I'm just out here self-indulging my own childhood dreams uwu -Danny


	7. Hogwarts Express.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'August was the best month of the whole summer. Harry would go over to Mel's house much more often now that the Dursleys knew about her secret (she wasn't admitted in his house now), and they'd spent their afternoons reading their school books and talking about the things they would do when they arrived.'

August was the best month of the whole summer. Harry would go over to Mel's house much more often now that the Dursleys knew about her secret (she wasn't admitted on his house now), and they'd spent their afternoons reading their school books and talking about the things they would do when they arrived.

Although there was one thing Mel was afraid of:

Mr. Dursley refusing to take Harry to the station.

Her mum could take both of them, but Harry insisted on asking his uncle first, a way to keep things civil between them.

Harry Potter, always polite.

She waited by her window on the night of August 31, hoping things would go smoothly. Soon Harry opened his and communicated that Uncle Vernon was in fact, taking him to the station.

"But there's a problem," He frowned, "my ticket says nine and three quarters, yours says the same?"

"Yes. Probably a magic thing, I'll ask my mum tomorrow"

"But I don't... How..?" Harry mumbled, insecure.

"I'll wait for you on platform nine," She assured him, "that way you won't look for it alone, is that okay?"

"Yes," Harry relaxed, "see you tomorrow at the station"

"See you!"

The next morning her mum realized that the bags were still pretty much unpacked.

"Mel Dumbledore!" Emily yelled as she walked into the room, "Your things are all scattered and it's already eight o'clock! Get up!"

Mel got out f bed like a zombie, she had slept too little again.

"I'm sorry..."

"Get dressed! C'mon, we don't have all morning..."

Once fully dressed, her mum took her wand and waved it around the room.

" _Pack_!"

All her things landed neatly on her trunk, in a matter of seconds, Mel had all her things ready.

"Nice!" The girl clapped happily, "Can I try that?"

"You know you can't," Her mother replied, "let's go, you have a train to take..."

Her mother seemed happier once they were in the station with the extra time at hand, rather excited, Mel would say.

"I told Harry that we would wait for him on platform nine, is that alright?"

"Sure," Emily looked around, "the Dursleys surely won't be helpful, we might as well wait... though we only have ten minutes, so let's hope he's not _too_ late."

Luckily he wasn't. Mel found him next to the platform, chatting with a redheaded woman.

"He's there, mum!" Mel jumped excitedly, pulling her mother's sleeve.

"I see him, calm down," Her mother laughed, "go ahead, I'm right behind you"

Mel ran over to Harry, who was unaware of her arrival.

"Glasses!" She screamed the moment her arms wrapped around his neck, "You're here!"

"Hi," She moved away, surprised to see him blushing, "er- I was-I was about to..."

"Hi love," Emily smiled widely, "was the trip alright?"

"It was okay, thanks"

"Oh, are you relatives?" Asked the woman that was talking to Harry seconds ago.

"Sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves," Emily said, "we're not relatives, but my daughter is friends with him. I'm Emily Sultens, this is Mel"

"Hello!" The girl waved cheerfully.

"I'm Molly Weasley. These are Ron and Ginny," She gently grabbed Ginny's shoulder, "say hi!"

"Hi"

"Hello"

"I was explaining to Harry how to cross over the platform," Mrs Weasley explained.

"We should all cross it, it's getting late," Emily nodded, checking the clock above their heads, "the kids should go first, of course"

Both women looked over to Mel and Harry and glanced at the wall.

"Walk up to it?

"Yes, Mel. Be fast, the train is about to leave"

Mel gulped and turned to her friend.

"Ready?"

"Not really," He admitted.

She grabbed Harry's trolley and ran with him, closing her eyes with fear.

The crash never came, instead, she found herself in the middle of a different station, with the sign ' _ **Nine and Three Quarters**_ ' above their heads.

"Amazing!" She whispered.

Emily arrived to help them find a compartment, the train was almost full, but they found one and put Mel's things inside, Harry's following right after.

"Want a hand?"

Mel looked up to find a boy that looked a bit similar to the other... what was his name? _Ron!_ Yes, he looked a tad like him.

"That'd be nice," Emily smiled.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

_Twins!_ How many redheaded siblings did that boy have?

Mel hugged her mother one last time before entering the compartment.

"Be nice to the other kids," Her mum reminded her.

"I'm always nice!"

"Don't go around causing trouble."

"As if I've ever done that..."

Her mum gave her a knowing look, sending her inside the train.

She took a seat and watched as Harry sighed tiredly, cleaning his forehead from the sweat.

"Thanks"

"What's that?" Said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's scar.

_Oh no._

"Blimey, are you..?"

"He is. Aren't you?" The other twin added. 

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter," They replied at the same time.

"Oh, him. I mean, yes, I am."

Mel observed as the boys stood there staring, she didn't like how nervous they were making him.

"Hey!" She spoke up, glaring at them, "Don't do that, it's rude"

Both twins turned to look at her, one of them with a frown.

"What are you looking at?" She huffed.

"You're... you remind me of... Are you a _Dumbledore_?"

She felt like her heart had skipped a beat.

"S-So what?"

"Bloody hell, I could've guessed who you were without even asking," Said the other twin.

Mel got even more upset, ready to kick them out of the compartment.

"Don't take it the wrong way!" The boy explained, "It's your eyes, they're pretty and all but they make me feel like you can read minds... I've only met one person with that stare, and that's Dumbledore"

She didn't know what to say, maybe something along the lines:

_'Leave me alone, please'_

"Oh," She sighed tiredly, "that might be a problem in the future"

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum"

She felt relieved when they went away.

"That wasn't nice of them," She told Harry, "are you okay?"

"Are you?" Harry frowned, "You looked angry about them knowing who we are"

"I just didn't like their attitudes, that's all," She leaned against her seat, crossing her arms.

"Mel!"

Emily's voice came muffled through the window, but it made her feel better. She and Harry stood up together in front of the window to say goodbye.

"Take care of each other, will you?"

"Yes," Both children agreed.

"Have a nice term!"

"I love you mum!" The little girl replied, "We'll write a letter every week!"

The mother waved one last time before turning back and walking towards the exit.

"She won't stay until we're gone?" asked Harry in curiosity.

"She's going to visit my uncle," Mel shrugged, "from her side of the family"

"Oh," Harry replied, "well, I'll miss her"

"Me too."

Voices caught their attention: It was the family that had helped them before.

"Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins with great surprise, "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"

"Or twice –"

"A minute –"

"All summer –"

"Oh, shut up," said the Prefect.

Mel let out a single, genuine laugh that soon drowned with her hand. Harry glance at her with a small smile.

"You don't have to decide that you hate them right now, you know? They seem nice."

"They look like trouble," Mel shook her head, "I promised my mum I would stay out of that"

"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry and Mel shared a look of panic before hiding under the window.

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

"And the girl with him was Dumbledore's grand-daughter!"

The woman mumbled something about the three of them -Emily, Harry, and Mel- acting really kind and friendly, and how it wasn't a surprise that they were together on their first day of school.

The little redheaded girl begged her mother to let her get on the train and see them, but her mother said no.

She also forbid the twins from asking Harry if he remembered how Voldemort looked like ( _he did not_ ). A whistle sounded through the station and the train began to move. Mel and Harry sat on the same side, too nervous to start a conversation.

Then the door swung open and Ron Weasley walked in.

"Anyone sitting there?" He pointed to the seat in front of them, "Everywhere else is full"

They sat quietly, she even ignored the way the boy glanced at them for a brief second.

"Hey Ron," To Mel's dismay, the twins were back, "listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," The boy mumbled.

"Harry," Said one of them, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. You are..?"

Mel realized they were looking at her and she jumped lightly, forgetting for a second she was supposed to speak.

"Mel Dumbledore," She replied dryly.

The boys shared a look and George shrugged carelessly.

"See you later, then."

"Bye," said the three kids.

After a mere second, Ron spoke up.

"Are you really _Harry Potter_ and Mel _Dumbledore_?"

It seemed like he had been trying to keep it to himself, but it was too much to handle.

They nodded.

"Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes... And have you really got – you know ..."

Harry moved his hair away from his forehead.

"That's where You-Know-Who –?"

"Yes, but I can't remember it"

"Nothing?" 

"I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"And it would be rude to insist on private matters," Added Mel, defensive.

"I know that," Said Ron.

He didn't seem embarrassed, but his ears did turn bright red as he looked out the window.

"Are all your family wizards?" Asked Harry beside her, clearly interested in the boy.

"I think so, I think my mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him..."

Ron and Harry seemed to be getting along. Mel started to get fond of Ronald, he was talkative and kept his pet rat on his pocket, which she thought was adorable (even if the rat was not so much).

"...and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-"

Ron leaned back on his seat, gasping.

"What?" They asked in unison.

"You said You-Know-Who's name! I'd have thought you, of all people-"

"I wouldn't like to talk about him as if he were something untouchable," Mel frowned, "bad people shouldn't be given such privileges."

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name, I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet... bet I'm the worst in the class." Harry explained.

Ron was quick to put his worries at rest, and that made her like him even more. Harry was important to her, anyone who took the time to make him feel better was immensely appreciated.

"You've seen Dumbledore before?" Ron asked the girl, after a while of talking about the odd ways they had received their letters, "Is he scary?"

"Well, not to me, but he wasn't acting like a Professor, even if he said that he was there as the headmaster. I don't think he's a bad man, though. He was really kind."

"Dumbledore is the best wizard in the world, that's what everyone says," Ron replied excitedly, "many of my dad's friends say that your dad was a great Auror too."

Mel didn't know what was an Auror, so she changed the subject.

"I just hope they aren't expecting big things from me, I don't have any. Pretty sure that the only 'Dumbledore' thing I have is the last name."

"You have seven years to find out," Ron shrugged, "I understand, having so many brothers my parents don't get impressed with my abilities, so if you don't have anything special, we can be awful together"

"Thanks," Said Mel, now sure of wanting to remain friends with the redhead, "that'd be fun..."

At twelve o'clock the food trolley passed by their corridor. Harry and Mel shared the same excited expression and rushed over to the door, seeing the unexpected and strange variety of candies. They picked a bit of everything and paid the lady, going back with their hands full and happily dropping everything on an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," Harry replied.

"All is new to us, we don't want to miss any," Mel added excitedly, picking a liquorice wand.

Ron unwrapped his sandwich, but he didn't seem happy about it. After a few seconds of convincing, he joined them on their little sweet feast.

Harry unwrapped a chocolate frog.

"So _this_ is Dumbledore!"

"You got his card?" Mel tried to grab it, but Harry kept it tight on his grasp, "Let me see!"

"You've seen him before, let me read what it says!" Her friend turned over the card to read the text.

Mel didn't feel particularly interested in learning more about her uncle's achievements, so she kept digging for more candy.

"He's gone!"

Mel dropped the frog she was holding.

"The picture?"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do any of you want it? You can start collecting."

Mel grabbed the card and put it inside her pocket.

"Help yourself," Harry told Ron, pointing to the bunch of frogs still untouched, "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed, "Weird!"

"I mean," Mel chuckled, "it's a picture"

"So?" Ron wondered, clearly unaware of what she was trying to say.

"I think we have a lot to learn from each other," She laughed.

She and Ron kept eating the frogs while Harry moved through the whole pile. Finally, he grabbed a package of _Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans_. Ron warned them about how it was truly every flavor, so naturally, they had a fun time eating them away and guessing which flavor they had gotten. Mel got pretty normal ones: Berries and citrus, one onion and one that tasted like oil.

A boy passed by asking if they had seen a toad, he looked quite affected when their answers were negative. Ron mentioned how a toad was sort of old-fashioned as a pet and that he would've lost it on purpose, then he said he couldn't judge since he had brought a rat.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," He grimaced, "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

But just when he was about to do it, the door opened a second time, it was the same boy, but also a little girl who was wearing her school robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," She said. 

"We've already told him we haven't seen it-"

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down next to Mel.

She looked at the girl carefully: Messy brown hair and a little annoying attitude.

"Er – all right" Ron mumbled, taken by surprise.

He moved his wand and pronounced the spell, nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Said the girl, "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"I'm Mel Dumbledore," Mel said, amused by the girl's enthusiasm.

"Harry Potter."

When she heard their names, Hermione started rambling once more about the things she had read about Harry and Mel's uncle, she also talked about the houses but that went over Mel's head since she didn't know a lot about that. Hermione stood up at last and left without expecting a reply.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron mumbled.

"She's excited," Mel retorted, "She's a muggleborn, right? When I found out I spent weeks reading about witches, I get how she feels"

"But you didn't memorize the books, did you?"

"Well, no. Everyone handles their excitement differently, I guess."

"Or she's just loony," Ron concluded.

He explained a bit better the thing with the houses, Mel thought they weren't so bad.

"You-Know-Who being on Slytherin doesn't necessarily mean the house is evil, you know? I bet the other houses also have bad wizards and witches."

"Maybe," Ron agreed, "but not as vile and evil as him, and most of his followers were from that house too."

She didn't want to start an argument and didn't know enough about the school, so Mel chose to stay silent and make her own opinions later.

Luckily for her, the conversation quickly changed to Quidditch, their friend explained in extreme detail this time and she found herself excited to watch one of those games live.

The door opened a third time and as she turned to see, her stomach dropped. It was the boy they had met in Diagon Alley, he had two huge kids on each side.

"Is it true?" He said, "They're saying all down the train that the Dumbledore girl and Harry Potter are in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," replied Harry.

Mel didn't talk.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle, and my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed to hide a short laugh.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford. You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Mel didn't worry one bit about Harry, she knew what he would say even before he said it, they just didn't appreciate Malfoy's kind.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."

The girl was incapable of holding her tongue.

"How dare you say that?" She stood up at the same time that Harry and Ron did, "Get out of our compartment, now!"

"Don't think you're any better," He sneered, "coming from a family like the Dumbledores, you'll be lucky if you don't go mental before you graduate"

Mel blinked in surprise, it was the first time she'd heard someone talk like that about Dumbledore besides Mr. Dursley.

"Say that again," Ron said.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy mocked.

"Unless you get out now."

"That'd be stupid," She crossed her arms, remembering the promise she had made to her mum, "just ignore them, they're not worth our time..."

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached for the frogs and Ron was quick to react, however, before he could even touch him, he screamed in pain, lifting his hand and revealing Scabbers, hanging from his finger.

He shrieked and shook his hand until the rat flew and landed against the window with a harsh thumping sound. The three boys ran out at the same time that Hermione appeared at the doorway.

"What has been going on?"

"Nothing," Mel answered, "they were just being annoying"

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said, examining his rat, "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."

While Harry and Ron talked about Malfoy, Mel turned to see Hermione.

"We're fine, thank you for coming to check."

"You were being loud."

"I'm sorry?" Mel frowned, "We were having a bit of trouble, I already told you."

"I heard you," Hermione replied in her bossy tone, "you shouldn't be picking fights so soon, we haven't even started-"

"Can we help you with something?" Ron interrupted her.

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Hermione," Mel replied patiently, "this is not-"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Said Ron in a voice that let her know he wasn't fond of her, "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.

"That's because we _are_ children," Mel replied matter-of-factly.

"And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Added the girl, her attention still on the redheaded boy.

Mel knew right away that Hermione wasn't going to be making friends anytime soon.

It took them a few minutes to take off their jackets and put on their robes, Mel's heart was beating faster as the night advanced: She was finally where she belonged.

A voice coming from the roof spoke up:

_'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.'_

Mel grabbed the remains of their candy and put it inside her pockets like Ron and Harry had done.

She held onto Harry's arm as they walked out of the compartment, together.


	8. The Sorting Ceremony.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'She felt interested in learning and sharing knowledge, but she was also loyal and patient... most of the time, anyway. She recalled when she threw that cake to Dudley, so maybe that was a bit Slytherin-like? She got what she wanted that time... or maybe that was cunning, like Gryffindors...'

Hagrid received all the first years, leading them to a different road than the one the older students were taking.

The path was dark and cold, Mel stayed close to her friends, trying to avoid the freezing air passing through. They were all quiet, nervous.

Hagrid told them Hogwarts was close and as they gave a few steps forward, Mel gasped in unison with most of the kids around her, the castle was better than any of the things she had imagined:

At the very top of the mountain, Hogwarts stood proud, ready for the new school year.

No matter what house they'd put her in, or the type of student she would become, as long as she could stay in that castle she would be happy.

Mel wasn't fond of the dark, so when they climbed inside the boats and sat in groups of four, she convinced Harry to sit next to her so she could hold his hand whenever she felt nervous. Harry acted like he wasn't happy about it, but once they pass through the dark tunnel under the castle, it was him the one who reached for her hand. She smiled smugly but decided to not say a word after they left the boats.

Hagrid found Neville's toad when they landed, and a flight of stairs later, finally gathered at the front door of the castle, they were ready to enter the school.

Hagrid knocked on the door three times loudly, a witch opened it: She looked like a very strict woman, it made her feel the silly and urgent need of fixing her hair and robes before speaking to her.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

The woman led them inside to a small chamber in front of where the older students were, Mel couldn't believe this was her home for the next few months. McGonagall gave them a short explanation of the sorting ceremony, about the houses, and told them to fix themselves before entering the Great Hall since the sorting would be in front of the rest of the school.

Mel brushed her hair with her fingers and fixed her robes as best she could. She was anxious, what if they sent her to Slytherin?

A flash of light passed in front of her, many children gasped in awe as they lifted their heads and watched the ghosts around them. _Ghosts!_ You could add that to the list of things Mel couldn't wait to read about during her stay at Hogwarts.

The Professor came back and guided them towards the Great Hall, she asked them to form a line a so they did, the young girl felt her hands sweating and getting colder at the same time, she could hardly breathe.

Then the doors opened: She saw a beautiful room with a marvelous night sky as the ceiling. It wasn't the real sky, it was a spell, or so she heard Hermione whisper to the girl beside her. McGonagall guided them to the very end of the room, right in front of the teachers and students, she put and old hat on top of a stool. 

Taking her by surprise, the hat started singing.

It sang about the Houses and Mel rolled her eyes in annoyance. She understood that they were important, but this was only making her more nervous. She wished she didn't have to hear about how she needed to be something so specific to belong in each house.

She felt interested in learning and sharing knowledge, but she was also loyal and patient... most of the time, anyway. She recalled when she threw that cake to Dudley, so maybe that was a bit Slytherin-like? She got what she wanted that time... or maybe that was cunning, like Gryffindors...

It made her head spin, she decided that she would sit and wait to be sorted, it was no use to worry about something that she couldn't control.

And so the sorting began, she watched and clapped as the kids sat there a few seconds until the hat shouted their houses to everyone in the room. After Bulstrode got sorted into Slytherin, she heard her name.

"Dumbledore, Mel!"

She heard the people whispering as she reached for the stool.

_"I heard her grandfather is a lunatic"  
_

_"Maybe she is, too..."  
_

_"That Dumbledore girl could get away with anything, is not fair!"  
_

_"I bet she's just a pretty face..."  
_

Mel clenched her fists but kept her mouth shut, she had made a promise and she wasn't planning on breaking it. More importantly, if the students really thought that she was going to have it easy because of her Family's name, then she would prove them all wrong. She would surpass everyone, be the best at everything.

The hat covered her eyes as she kept trying to control her temper.

' _Dumbledore Girl,_ ' She thought with annoyance, ' _I'm much more than a last-name or a pretty face! I can kick their butts anytime in anything they want. And I'll do it the right way. I'm not scared'_

" _You'll need a whole lot of friends who won't get scared with confrontations then, I can tell you'll be a handful sometimes, a bit too naive if you're not careful, but you'll always fight for what's fair..._ " A voice said in her head, it was the _hat!_ _"I know exactly where you need to be..._ _**GRYFFINDOR**_!"

Mel took the hat off with joy, running towards the table that burst in a loud round of applause and excitement. She sat in front of Lavender, the first Gryffindor to be selected that night. Percy Weasley leaned towards her a shook her hand.

"Congratulations Mel, you must be proud! Same house as Professor Dumbledore..."

She peeked over to the Teachers table and locked eyes with Dumbledore, he kindly raised his glass to her and smiled.

Proud indeed.

Hermione Granger, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom were also sorted in Gryffindor and sat in front and next to Mel, she had to wait what it felt like decades for Harry. When it finally happened, the room went silent.

In retrospective, Harry got sorted rather quickly, he barely waited a few seconds. For her right at that moment, it felt like everything was going painfully slow.

Suddenly, the hat announced ' _ **GRYFFINDOR**_ ' and her table cheered so loudly, for a moment it felt like it was going to break in half. Harry got to the table and she waited until everyone around got the chance to welcome him, then she stood up from her seat and quietly joined her friend at the edge of the table.

She gave him a small smile and patted his hand lovingly as if saying _'Good job!'_

It was Ron's turn now: Gryffindor, like the rest of his brothers. Mel and Harry made sure to clap as loudly as the rest. He sat next to Mel, sighing heavily.

"You'll feel better in a moment," Mel put a hand on his shoulder, "at least now we can actually be awful together, in the same House!"

Ron let out a weak laugh at the same moment that Dumbledore stood up in his place.

"Welcome!" He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Mel gulped, maybe people weren't entirely mistaken when they said he was a little mad.

"Is he – a bit mad?" Harry asked beside her.

"Mad?" Percy answered airily before she could reply, "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Mel didn't notice when it happened, but the whole table was packed with food, all types of food, and she wasn't going to miss the chance of trying a bit of everything.

Soon her plate was overflowing with all kinds of things. Mel went for it, hungry as ever.

One thing about her was that she could hardly follow the conversations when she was eating. She'd usually eat quietly until her food was gone, then she'd spend the next half an hour chatting with her mum. Even when Harry was around, not that Harry actually minded since he'd be invested in eating all he could as well.

The food changed to desserts, Mel regretted a bit the decision of eating so much before, cause now she could only pick one thing, otherwise, she would feel too full to have a good night. She chose a glass of icecream with a chocolate eclair.

Now that she was eating something lighter, the girl was able to participate in the chats around her table, except for Hermione and Percy's, it was all about the school lessons. She didn't feel like charging more anxiety to her soul.

She heard about Neville's family and made the mental note of helping him in any way she could, he gave the impression of being soft. Mel knew all about that, she had spent all her childhood protecting Harry from the horrors the Dursleys wanted to force on him so badly through the years.

"Ouch!" Harry jumped on her side, touching his head.

"What's wrong?" Mel asked.

"N-Nothing."

"Nothing?" She frowned, "Glasses, you look pale..."

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" He asked Percy, changing the subject.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Mel wouldn't trust a man with that type of deathly stare to teach anything dark-related.

Eventually, the desserts disappeared and Dumbledore got up again.

"Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," He looked over to the Gryffindor table, more specifically, to Fred and George Weasley, "I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

Mel and a few other kids showed disappointment over this rule. How was she going to learn magic if she couldn't practice before and after class?

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Her stomach sank with the last part, a few kids laughed thinking it was a joke.

"He's not serious," Harry muttered to Percy.

"Must be," Percy replied, "It's odd because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us Prefects, at least."

"Let's just stay as far from that corridor as possible," Mel mumbled, shivering at the thought of a painful death.

Before sending them to bed, Dumbledore asked them to sing the school's song. Not many people seemed happy about it. Mel sang quietly, feeling worn out after the day she'd had, and once the Wesley twins finished their own sad tune -which sort of annoyed her, she wanted to sleep!- Dumbledore let them go.

Mel was too tired to start any conversation with her friends, too tired to even gasp or wonder at the sight of Peeves, the school's poltergeist.

The entrance to her common room was behind the portrait of a woman, she wasn't at all surprised when she noticed it moved.

"Password?" She asked.

"Caput Draconis," Replied Percy.

The Prefect directed the kids to their dormitories and Mel silently waved at Ron and Harry, ready to go to bed. However, her roommates thought differently.

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown sat at the edge of the bed Mel had chosen to sleep in. Staring at her with curiosity, Lavender asked:

"You're a Dumbledore for real?"

"Yes," Mel yawned, "my dad's side..."

"How is Dumbledore as a grandfather?"

"Is he nice all the time? Is he strict with you?"

"Did he give you private lessons before you got your letter?"

"Uh..." Mel found herself unable to answer, she had only heard the first question, "he's not my grandfather, he's my great-uncle"

"That's what he says," Parvati smiled in complicity "but people always said that he treated your father like his _son_ "

"I don't know," Mel felt cornered, "my father died before I could ask him-"

"Well, people also say he didn't know, so it's only Dumbledore who actually knows the truth... have you asked him?"

"I just met him," She replied startled, "and I don't see how any of it should be important"

"It's just that all of us found it puzzling, how he raised a boy that wasn't his, you know?"

"Why would he do that?"

"I think you should go to bed," Hermione appeared at her left, pulling the curtain open, "tomorrow we'll start our lessons and you need to have a full night of sleep. Besides, Mel's life isn't any of your business, is it? You should leave her alone if she doesn't want to talk about it."

Lavender and Parvati glared at Hermione like she had ruined the party but obeyed her anyway. Mel sighed, she pulled the curtain close on her right side so only Hermione could see her.

"Thank you," She whispered.

"I don't like gossip," Hermione frowned, "and those questions were about private matters. I assumed you didn't want to talk about it with strangers."

"I don't even know about it," Mel sighed, "my mum kept everything hidden"

"Well, next time just ignore them," The girl shrugged, "they'll get tired of asking, eventually."

"Thank you," Mel repeated, "we started sort of oddly you and me, back in the train... Do you think we could be friends? It's just, well, I've never had a girl my age to talk to..."

Hermione's expression remained a little grumpy, but she noticed a faint pink on her cheeks when she replied.

"I guess, I could use a friend my age too."

"Brilliant," Mel's smile grew as she watched the girl, "have a good night, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Mel."


	9. "New friends."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> '"No problem," He walked beside her, "I got lost thousands of times last year"
> 
> "You're a second-year, then?"
> 
> "It's easy to guess," He replied using her words, "name's Erick. You're that Dumbledore girl, aren't you?"'

The next morning Hermione had already woken up and left for breakfast. Mel washed her face and got dressed slowly, she wasn't an early riser.

She had trouble finding the Great Hall, Harry and Ron weren't with her and she forgot to ask them to wait for her the next morning, so she was a bit lost.

The halls were also completely empty, probably because most of the students were having breakfast, she started to worry. 

Then, Mel saw a boy at the other end of the hall and she fastened her pace.

"Uh, Hello," Mel tapped his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I got lost and I don't know how to get to the Great Hall... could you-?"

"You want me to help you find it?" He raised a brow, "Are you a first-year?"

"It's easy to guess, isn't it" Mel chuckled nervously, "I'm sorry for wasting your time..."

"It's alright," The boy shook his head, "I was going there too, anyway"

"Oh," Mel sighed in relief, "thank you"

"No problem," He walked beside her, "I got lost thousands of times last year"

"You're a second-year, then?"

"It's easy to guess," He replied using her words, "name's Erick. You're that Dumbledore girl, aren't you?"

"Mel," She corrected, "I don't mean to sound rude, but I would appreciate if you didn't call me _'Dumbledore girl'_ , it's not a nickname that I like"

"Sorry," The boy said, "I didn't know, I'll make sure to call you Mel from now on"

She eyed him up curiously. He had dark, curly hair and hazel eyes, his expression remained formal, a bit too adult for his young face. He guided her through a few hidden passages and one staircase, they remained silent until they reached the Great Hall.

"Here," Erick nodded, "I hope you memorized the way back, cause I won't be able to help you, is not exactly a good look on neither of us"

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

Erick pointed to his tie: He was a _Slytherin_.

She hadn't noticed before, too worried about finding her way to the Great Hall, but if she was honest, it wasn't bugging her that much, after all, he had been good to her.

"You don't want _that_ kind of fame on your first day," He warned her, "I certainly can't allow it for myself. It was nice meeting you, anyway."

"Yes," She watched him leave, her frown never disappearing "nice to meet you too..."

What did he mean with ' _that kind of fame_ '? She wasn't allowed to talk to kids in different houses? Or was it because he was a Slytherin?

Whatever it was, Mel didn't think he was despicable, he had helped her...

"Mel!" A little hand waved in her direction, "Here!"

She spotted Harry next to Ron and Dean Thomas, Mel rushed over to meet her friends.

"You didn't wait for me," She took a seat in front of them, "you could have waited at least five minutes before leaving, you know?"

"Sorry," Ron replied, "we were hungry"

"Tomorrow we'll wait for you," Harry offered a plate with scrambled eggs and toast as a peace offering.

"Thank you," Mel took the plate, "any of you seen Hermione? She wasn't in the common room when I got up, I thought she'd be here"

"She had breakfast and left," said Dean Thomas, "I think she wanted to study before class"

"Why would anyone want that?" Ron scrunched up his nose, "She's so strange"

"She's nice once you get used to it," the girl shrugged.

It was a hard week for Mel, not because of her classes -she was doing surprisingly well- but because it seemed that the hardest task, was to keep herself out of trouble.

It wasn't even her fault, it was the rude people that kept whispering and stalking Harry everywhere they went, she assumed that after the first week they would get tired of it, but the first week wasn't over yet, and she had lost her patience.

"Would you be so kind to mind your own business?" She asked loudly to a few Ravenclaw kids lurking around to take a better look of her friend.

They scoffed and mumbled rude things to her, but she couldn't care less, Mel was sick of the nosy students.

"I know you're trying to help me," Harry said after the Ravenclaws were long gone, completely red and flustered, "but I think it would be better if you just leave them alone"

"Why?"

"Your threats worry us," Ron answered, "you try to get in fights with older students all the time, is not exactly soothing"

"I'm not trying to get in any fights, I'm trying to teach them manners," She huffed, holding the strap of her backpack with unnecessary force, "they need to leave Harry alone! He's not an animal, they can't be watching him"

"They'll get over it," Ron insisted, "you need to calm down or you'll end up in the infirmary with a nest on your head"

Friday seemed a good omen, the three children managed to found their way to the Great Hall without getting lost, she hoped for things to just start to get easier.

Then the mail arrived and Hedwig flew to her and Harry, holding not one, but two letters.

The first was from her mum, it was directed to both: Harry and Mel. The second was a note from Hagrid asking if they'd like to go over to his hut for a cup of tea that afternoon.

Harry answered Hagrid's note while Mel opened her mother's letter and read it aloud so he could hear what it said.

_'Dear Mel and Harry,_

_I hope your first week was as interesting and encouraging as mine was back in my first year. I also hope that you've got the chance to meet interesting people and made new friends, if not, don't worry, they'll come around._

_Harry, I'm pleased to inform you that your relatives have decided to avoid my presence at all cost, I've started to purposefully wait for them to get out of their house to take Dudley to school so I can wish them a good morning and watch as they grimace in horror. You could say that my days are much more interesting now that they know our secret._

_Mel, your uncle wishes you the best of terms and he can't wait for you to visit during Christmas to tell him all about your classes, he asks if you could send a letter from time to time too, that way he won't miss you that much._

_Have a good weekend and stay out of trouble!_

_Love, Mum.'_

Mel hugged the letter lovingly, deciding to reply as soon as they were back from Hagrid's and send it tomorrow morning. She didn't have lots to say, but she thought that maybe her mother would like to hear it anyway.

"Glasses, can I use your owl to send a letter to my uncle?" She inquired with pleading eyes.

"Only if you stop calling my _Glasses_ ," He raised a brow.

"Oh come on!" She huffed, "You love it!"

"Ron, is it or is it not a stupid nickname?"

"It does sound silly," Ron admitted, "but is not so bad"

"See?" Mel smiled satisfied.

After Potions, she had a lot to write about her teacher to her mother and uncle.

Snape was, as nicely as she could put it, a _twat_.

He targeted Harry and made him look like the worst student. Ron had been pinching her arm to keep her from making any sort of comments during class. Even after she got paired with Hermione, and even after they'd done an almost perfect job, Snape barely gave them a nod when he checked their cauldron.

To say she was offended was an understatement.

"Cheer up," said Ron after noticing both of his friends' demeanors, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

The three of them went over to Hagrid's.

He had a huge dog, Mel absolutely adored Fang from the second she put her eyes on him, patting his gigantic head and letting it rest on her lap.

They introduced Ron and chatted about the classes, taking their time with Snape's and happily listening to Hagrid call Filch and his cat the worst of the worst.

Hagrid asked Ron about one of his older brothers, and while they talked about Charlie's work with dragons. Harry tugged lightly at her sleeve and pointed to the clipping of a newspaper that was on the table.

**' _GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST  
_**

**_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown._ **

**_Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._ **

**_'But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.'_ **

Just as she finished reading, Harry exclaimed:

"Hagrid! That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Hagrid didn't answer, instead offering them another piece of his rock-cake. Mel and Harry glanced at each other, she knew they were thinking the exact same thing.

_Hagrid had emptied the vault seven hundred and thirteen on July 31st._


	10. The Duel.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Mel didn't want to, but she forced herself to watch. At that very moment, Draco was throwing the ball far up in the air, descending rapidly as Harry quickly followed the remembrall's trayectory. She held her breath and watched her friend plummeting to a practically unstoppable, awful crash.'

"Don't you get tired of listening to his voice?" Mel pushed her empty plate away, "Every. Bloody. Morning."

"Don't listen to him," Hermione replied distractedly, her attention on the book in front of her, "only idiots believe him"

The second week started with a notice saying that the flying lessons would start on Thursday, and Gryffindor would share their lessons... with Slytherin.

So obviously, Malfoy had been telling stories non-stop about his flying abilities, and Mel was sick of it.

Hermione was nervous as well, Mel soon learned to divide her time between the boys and her:

She shared her desk with Hermione, Mel paid more attention during class if they were sitting together. During her free time, she would stay with the boys, since Hermione had a -quite unhealthy- habit of studying after class, and she didn't like to be disturb.

She was a nice friend overall, offering her help in subjects that were making Mel's life difficult, and even had a functional sense of humor. The only problem was that she was too demanding.

Mel tried to make her see that she needed to calm down, it wasn't fun to be surrounded by books all the time, but Hermione didn't listen.

Hermione was on edge, she closed her book and rambled about Quidditch techniques that didn't actually sound useful unless you were a professional, Mel could sense the rest of the kids getting tired of her friend's chat, but luckily, she didn't have to interrupt, because the mail arrived at that moment.

Neville's grandmother sent him a remembrall: it turned red as soon as he touched it. Malfoy was passing by and decided he wanted to cause trouble.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet, ready to fight. Professor McGonagall appeared soon and calmed their nerves, once the boys sat back Mel leaned in to whisper:

"You complain about me trying to fight older students but you're always trying to find excuses to punch Malfoy"

"Well, he deserves it," Ron replied, "Malfoy's a little-"

"If you could get close enough to touch one of his hairs, Crabbe and Goyle would turn you into pulp without using magic, so don't even think about it," Mel warned him, "let's focus on the important task at hand: not die on our first flying lesson."

Everyone was reasonably afraid of what could happen, however, once the class started, as most of her other lessons, it wasn't that much of a trouble. Her broom obliged in the first try, and she listened to the proper ways to mount it and how to keep a steady grip on it with full interest.

_'Baby steps_ ', she thought in relief.

But baby steps weren't enough with someone like Neville, who somehow managed to break his wrist.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Malfoy asked loudly once Madam Hooch, the teacher, was out of sight.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati Patil scowled at him.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a girl just as unlikeable as Malfoy. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati."

"What about you, Pansy?" Mel pushed some kids away so she could see her, "Do you relish on laughing stupidly at everything that passes through Malfoy's bird-brain? Or is your brain as small as his?"

Before Pansy could reply, Malfoy picked up something from the floor.

"It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly, standing next to Mel.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?" Malfoy smiled.

"Give it here!"

Malfoy mounted his broomstick and took off.

"Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry listened, grabbing his broom with spite.

"No!" shouted Hermione, "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble."

"Hermione's right, Harry," Mel added, "forget about the rest, you can't afford getting expelled!"

Harry, impulsive as ever, ignored both. Mel knew that Harry was a proud boy, that also meant he could get in trouble as much as her, if not more.

The next few minutes were something next to impressive: Harry seemed to finally have found his place; the broom and the boy united by an invisible bond.

Something grew in her chest as she watched him fly, something similar to joy, she couldn't quite pin-point what was it. She just knew she liked the way he looked while flying. Mel also knew that it didn't mean she was happy about what was going on.

She walked over to Ron and slapped his arm.

"Ouch!" He glared at her, "Why did you do that?"

"You didn't stop him! You should've helped us to change his mind!"

"For what?" He frowned, "Malfoy's an idiot and Harry's making him look like a fool, watch!"

Mel didn't want to, but she forced herself to watch. At that very moment, Draco was throwing the ball far up in the air, descending rapidly as Harry quickly followed the remembrall's trayectory. She held her breath and watched her friend plummeting to a practically unstoppable, awful crash.

He caught the ball, and a foot before colliding against the grass he expertly readjusted his broom in a matter of seconds. Safe again, he landed softly.

Mel's stomach did an odd flip as she watched, amazed by her best friend's skills. She had the impression that the feeling on her chest was something not so normal, but she forgot about it a second later.

"HARRY POTTER!"

The girl gulped at hearing the voice, blood draining from her face.

"Never – in all my time at Hogwarts– how dare you... might have broken your neck –"

McGonagall could hardly form a sentence, she was _pissed_.

"It wasn't his fault, Professor –"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil –"

"But Malfoy –"

"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

' _He's expelled_ ', Mel thought, panicking as she watched McGonagall take Harry away, ' _this is it, Harry's not coming back._ '

"This is YOUR FAULT!" She yelled at Malfoy.

"Mel!" Ron followed his friend, who was sprinting towards the Slytherin student.

"It's not my fault he wasn't fast enough," Malfoy sneered, "he deserves it-"

She grabbed him by the collar of his robes.

"The only person that deserves something it's you, and it's a kick in the-!"

"What's going on?" Madam Hooch had returned, "Why are you screaming like that, Dumbledore? Let go of Malfoy! And where's Potter?"

"McGonagall took him away, Madam Hooch," Lavender replied, "he got in trouble."

"I see," She gave them all the same stern look, "well, let's continue the class, shall we? Potter and Longbottom can catch up later..."

But Mel was having a hard time focusing. How could she, when her best friend was about to get expelled? Everything was over, and it was all fault of his stupid impulsiveness! 

The worst part was that she couldn't even scowl him properly because he would be terribly sad, and she didn't want to make it worse.

She left the grounds with teary eyes, Ron walking quietly beside her. It looked like he wanted to say something, maybe he couldn't find the right words or he wasn't familiar with how to make girls feel better.

Hermione found the right words, though. She managed to not mention what she obviously thought about Harry so Mel wouldn't get more upset.

"You won't be alone, you know? You still have me and Ron Weasley, although I don't know why you enjoy spending time with him. Neville's also here, and he's much more interested in school than the other boys. You don't have to cry, Mel. You'll be fine."

"Harry won't be," She pouted, "you don't know the way his relatives treat him, it's an absolute nightmare! And... And now I won't be there to help!"

She didn't know why she felt so guilty, maybe it was because she hadn't insisted enough, maybe she just cared a lot about him. Either way, she found herself completely powerless, _again_.

When Harry met them for dinner, he was anything but sad. She examined his attitude for a second before saying, in a very confused tone:

"You weren't expelled."

Harry blinked in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Your eyes are really shiny," She pointed out.

"Oh?" Harry tilted his head, "Thank you?"

"I mean," Mel blushed, "you look happy"

"I am," Harry smiled, "you won't guess what happened..."

Harry told them that McGonagall introduced him to Oliver Wood, the captain of the Quidditch team. Now, Harry was:

" _Seeker_?" Ron repeated, "But first-years never – you must be the youngest house player in about –"

"– a century," said Harry, eating happily, "Wood told me. I start training next week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

Mel was beaming, but she still was mad. Considering that her friend had had several good news for a day, she allowed herself a bit of relief and punched Harry's shoulder.

Harry groaned with his mouth full.

" _Wha_ ' was that _fo_ '?"

"You fool! You absolute idiot!" She exclaimed, "I hope this is the last time you do something so stupid, it won't help my anxiety if you keep throwing yourself into this kind of problems!"

"What are you saying? You're no different!" Ron replied in disbelief, "You should've seen her when you left, Harry. She was ready to kill Malfoy-"

"Not true!"

"It is! I saw Malfoy's face, he thought you were going to rip his head off!"

"He's a coward, of course he got scared..."

She looked away to avoid Harry's little smirk and noticed Fred and George Weasley walking up to them, she grumbled under her breath.

"Not them..."

"Well done," said George as they arrived, "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"By the way, now that we're here..." George added, leaning to catch Mel's eye, "we wanted to ask you something"

"What thing?"

"Exactly how many liberties do you have as the Headmaster's grand-daughter and would you be interested in helping with a few-"

"I don't have any liberties," She said coldly, "I won't help you with your silly pranks now or never. I promised my mum I would stay away from trouble, and you two are always causing it. Also, I'm her niece, not grand-daughter"

"Are you saying you don't like us?" Fred raised a brow.

"I didn't say that. I just prefer to ignore you exist, that way I stay out of all the mischief."

"Unless someone is messing with you," Ron whispered to Harry, who smiled in complicity as a reply.

"Shut up, Ronald," Mel scowled.

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

"And Mel," George smirked, "have fun staying out of trouble"

She turned to face Ron.

"What a way to support me, Weasley"

"I was just being honest!"

"Well, keep your honesty away in times like this, alright?" She crossed her arms, "Your brothers annoy me..."

"What did they ever do to you?" Ron asked.

"They just... I don't know," Mel replied, "they're too problematic"

"I think you like them," Harry teased.

"I don't!" She exclaimed, knowing that she was blushing, "they're..."

Before she could say what they were, Malfoy walked up to their table, a smug smile on his face.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly.

"I'd take you on any time on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling round. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

"Crabbe," he said, "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."

They left, Mel was upset again.

"What is a wizard's duel? And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"It means you're both stupid," She said, "you just saved yourself from getting expelled and now you're accepting a duel?"

"A second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, ignoring Mel's comment, "but people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"What if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"I'll go with you."

"Mel, you can't-"

"I wasn't asking"

"Excuse me," Hermione talked to them for the first time in the whole hour.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron, Mel lightly pinched his arm.

Hermione continued.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –"

"Bet you could..."

"–and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.

"Goodbye," said Ron.

"Don't be rude!" She complained as the three of them got up from the table, "She's trying to help our house win the cup. I should follow her steps from time to time..."

"Well, you should start by controlling your own temper," Ron offered under his breath.

_________________________________

She had a hard time trying to make Hermione leave her alone. She spent the afternoon hearing her ramble about how Dumbledore would be disappointed if she got caught doing such atrocities. In the end, it was useless to try and convince her to go to bed, even if she was already wearing her dressing gown. She angrily followed her downstairs and dramatically waited for the boys in one of the sofas while Mel waited as far as she could from her, standing next to a chair.

"You're ready?" Ron whispered, "Remember, you can't help Harry, so I hope you're not bringing your wand."

"I'm not," She replied upset, "she wouldn't let me"

"Who?" Asked Harry.

"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."

A lamp flickered on.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped. "Percy – he's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Both of them turned to look at Mel, expecting her to control the situation.

"I tried to send her away," She sighed, "Hermione wouldn't stop insisting, so I let her stay here until we had to leave."

"Come on," Harry pushed both of his friends towards the door.

However, Hermione decided she wanted to keep arguing.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"I'll help you get them back tomorrow 'Mione, I promise," Mel whispered, urging her to go back.

"Go away."

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –"

Mel noticed grimly, that the Fat Lady was gone. She came into a halt, watching with worry.

"Now what am I going to do?" Hermione asked.

"That's your problem," said Ron, going back only to grab Mel's arm and drag her along, "We've got to go, we're going to be late."

"I'm coming with you," she said, rushing over to them once they were reaching the end of the corridor.

"You are not."

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you and you can back me up."

"Hermione, what we're doing is wrong, but that's just an awful idea," Mel retorted.

"You've got some nerve –' 

"Shut up!" said Harry. "I heard something."

That something was Neville, he forgot the password and now he was sleeping outside. He wanted to join them because he was, as usual, afraid. Ron was angry.

In spite of the complications, they hoped for the duel to end well.

In the trophy room, they waited and waited. Minutes passed by and there was no sight of Malfoy and Crabbe.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

"Or maybe he wasn't coming at all," Mel offered.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

A hand closed tightly around her wrist and pulled her back. It was Harry, and he was silently urging them to run to the opposite side. She moved, guiding her friends away from Filch's voice.

"They're in here somewhere..."

She walked as fast as she could while also being quiet. Unfortunately, Neville panicked and ran into Ron, the two boys crashing against a whole line of armors.

"RUN!" Harry yelled.

It wasn't the first time Mel and Harry had to run away from something, but it was certainly the fastest. Until their legs were hurting and their lungs weren't properly working anymore, that's when they decided to stop.

"This... is the last time... you believe anyt... anything that rat... says!" Mel concluded, breathless.

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realise that, don't you? He was never going to meet you – Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

"We have to go back to the Gryffindor Common room," Ron said.

"Let's go," Harry walked forward.

The door in front of them opened with a bang and Peeves came out of it swiftly, delighted to see students out of bed.

"Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please..."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves, then his eyes shone wickedly when they landed on Mel, "It's for your own good, you know. _You_ , the dumb-dumby, you're in big big trouble."

"Get out of the way," Snapped Ron, pushing Peeves away.

Mel felt her blood run cold.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

They ran, crashing against the nearest door, which was -as their terrible luck would have it- locked.

"This is it!" Ron exclaimed, in a nervous fit, "We're done for! This is the end!"

Mel looked around and locked eyes with Hermione.

"Just this once?" Mel begged her.

Hermione rolled her eyes but stepped forward.

"Move over," Hermione hissed as Mel grabbed Ron by the collar of his dressing-gown and pulled him away from the door.

Hermione grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered:

" _Alohomora_!"

Mel pushed everyone inside and then got in herself, closing the door behind her and turning around.

She was living a nightmare.

In front of her, there was a three-headed dog, black and enormous.

"What the..."

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered, he obviously hadn't turned around, "I think we'll be OK – get off, Neville! What?"

It was the third floor, they were inside the _forbidden_ corridor.

"Out," Mel whispered with a broken voice.

She felt Harry turning around and opening the door, they went back outside in a rush and fell on top of each other as Harry quickly closed the door behind them. He helped her stand up so they could go back to running. And so they ran, they didn't even care about Filch, they just wanted to leave that dog as far away as possible.

Almost as a miracle, they reached the seventh floor and the portrait without any complications.

"Where on earth have you all been?" The Fat lady gasped.

"Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout," Harry urged her.

They rushed into the common room, falling heavily onto the armchairs. They were so big, that Mel and Harry even managed to fit into one.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school? If any dog needs exercise, that one does." Ron complained.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" Hermione snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"It was standing on a trapdoor," Mel recalled easily, but she shrugged it off, "I don't see how that's important?"

"It's obviously guarding something," Hermione stood up, glaring at them, "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Don't expect me to help you again with any of your stupid expeditions in the middle of the night, Mel. Actually, don't even try to start a conversation with me for the rest of the term. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

"No, we don't mind," Ron grumbled, "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"

"Merlin's beard," Mel leaned against her chair.

Hermione could be bossy sometimes, she could be too much for other people, but Mel genuinely liked her and now she was gone, she didn't want to be friends with her anymore.

"Mel?" Harry nudged her arm softly, "Is everything alright?"

"I'm going to bed," She answered, not even daring to look at his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now, I might post the rest during this week, it depends on how busy I am with these quarantine duties, if you liked it, don't forget to leave a comment! -Danny


	11. The Slytherin Boy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'She ate her breakfast quietly, ignoring the pain in her chest every time she looked at Hermione, who kept refusing to even glance in her direction. She was bloody mad at Malfoy too, if it wasn't because of his idiotic dare, Hermione would still be her friend, she wouldn't feel so misfit.'

The next days had few pleasant surprises, one of them being Draco's face when he saw Ron and Harry happily entering the Great Hall the next morning.

Harry tried to get her attention during breakfast, the boys were talking about the thing that the dog could be guarding; he had his own suspicions and intended to make Mel support his ideas, but she was quite moody that morning.

After Hermione decided to stop talking to her, she felt lonely. Not that Harry and Ron ignored her, but it just wasn't the same, not even with Harry now that he had Ron. She thought that maybe the thing was that they were boys, they had more things in common... if that made any sense.

She ate her breakfast quietly, ignoring the pain in her chest every time she looked at Hermione, who kept refusing to even glance in her direction. She was bloody mad at Malfoy too, if it wasn't because of his idiotic dare, Hermione would still be her friend, she wouldn't feel so misfit.

The next surprise happened about a week after:

During breakfast, the owls arrived with a strange-looking package for Harry, several students had their eyes fixed on them, wanting to see what it was. A letter was delivered moments after, one that Mel read along with Harry and Ron.

**_'DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE._ **

**_It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one._ **

**_Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session._ **

**_Professor M. McGonagall'_ **

"A bloody-" Mel stopped short before she could give it away, she looked up to meet Harry's eyes, happiness flooding through them.

They stood up at the same time, their breakfast long forgotten on the table. The three kids ran towards the marble stairs only to have them blocked by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Malfoy took the broom from Harry's hand and examined it.

"That's a broomstick," He said, with disgust that Mel knew wasn't directed towards the object, "You'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."

"It's not any old broomstick," Ron teased, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty? Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."

"Careful there," Mel replied, "we might think you're jealous..."

"Not arguing, I hope, kids?" Professor Flitwick asked, appearing beside them.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry, "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, his voice trembling, "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."

Mel let out a short laugh that she covered with a cough, excusing herself and starting to walk upstairs. She heard two other pairs of feet coming behind her, Harry and Ron emerging at her sides. One look at their faces was enough to burst out laughing.

"Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be in the team..."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" Hermione was looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."

Hermione then looked at Mel, and for a moment she thought she'd seeing hurt in her eyes, almost as if she was asking her if she felt the same way.

 _She did_ _not_.

Hermione never asked, she just walked away.

That night Harry and Ron had to practically drag her back to their dormitory to see the new broom.

"Wow," Ron sighed.

That summed up pretty much every thought Mel had about it: It was pleasant to look at, _impressive_ to look at, she fell in love with it.

Mel sat on the bed and softly let her fingertips run over the handle.

"It's beautiful," She glanced back at Harry, "you'll let me fly in it some time, Glasses?"

"Of course," He smiled, glad to see her in a better mood.

"Can I go to your practice?" She inquired.

"We have homework," Ron raised a brow.

"I finished yesterday," She said proudly, "so, what do you say?"

"I guess Oliver won't mind," He shrugged.

He walked out to the Quidditch pitch with Mel beside him.

"Can I ask you something?" The boy said.

"Sure," She tilted her head, "what thing?"

"Are you angry with me and Ron because of what happened with Hermione?" He scratched the back of his neck, "I know you liked her"

Mel sighed, shaking her head.

"I'm not angry with you. I wish you could be more polite, she only acts like that cause she feels pressured to be a good student, so her parents can feel proud. I get that feeling... but I'm not angry"

"Then why have you been so quiet around us?"

"I just feel that you and Ron understand each other better," She gave him a shy smile, "sometimes I even consider that... maybe you don't need me as much as before. That's one of the reasons why affected me so much when Hermione stopped talking to me."

"Mel," Harry blinked in surprise, "Why didn't you tell me you felt like that? Listen, I might talk to Ron a lot, but you're still my best friend. I would never stop talking to you!"

"I know you won't, but it's hard to feel like I belong, you know?"

"You belong. I don't know what would I do without you," Harry nudged her arm, "I'm sure Hermione will talk to you again in a few weeks, you'll see. You're too great to ignore"

"Thank you, Glasses," She wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"There's nothing to worry about, _Dumby_ ," He smirked.

"Please don't," She complained, "that's even worse than _'Dumbledore girl_ "

"Too late. I like how it sounds."

When they arrived at the Quidditch pitch Oliver Wood wasn't there yet, she was about to go over to the stands when Harry spoke up.

"You want to fly?"

"Now?" She looked around, "it's dark..."

"Yes or no?"

"...Yes"

Harry handed the broom to her, she hesitated.

"It's the first time someone will use it, are you sure you want me to go first?"

"I trust you," Harry shrugged, "you won't break it, won't you?"

"I'll try not to," She joked.

"I'll risk it," He insisted, taking her hand and putting the broom's handle in it. Mel held it firmly, mounting the broom as their teacher had told them to.

"Ready?" Her friend asked with a tiny smile on his face.

Instead of replying, Mel kicked off and swiftly move upwards.

That broom was really something else, it moved smoothly in the air, she barely had to move her wrist for changing directions. She was a bit tense at first, too scared to attempt any abrupt movements, then Harry's voice came from the ground, encouraging her to go faster.

So she did, maybe not her best idea, but the feeling in her stomach each time that she would fall fast and go back up was like nothing else. Eventually, she decided to go back to the ground, landing a few meters away from her friend, who sprinted towards her with a bright smile.

"See? Wasn't bad, was it?"

"It's amazing!" Mel jumped off from the broom, "Thank you! It made me feel much better..."

"It's nothing," He replied casually.

She offered him the broom.

"Your turn."

Harry's smile widened as he took the broom and flew around the Quidditch Pitch. Mel made her way to the stands, wrapping her scarf a bit tighter around her neck. She watched as Harry flew around the Pitch. He was wonderful to look at when he was flying, she had the feeling that it would become one of her favorite things: Harry flying around in a Quidditch uniform, his hair messier after a whole afternoon of training.

She felt the same sensation in her stomach once more, only that this time it wasn't from falling aimlessly on a broom.

When the practice was over, she had a hard time maintaining her attitude as calm as possible, she couldn't stop thinking about Harry's perfect score when catching every single one of the golf balls.

_____________________________

Mel discovered that as much as she liked watching Harry, she also had lots of schoolwork to get done, so she let him leave the common room without her three times a week while her a Ron stayed behind in the Gryffindor tower.

Halloween arrived and with it, the opportunity to practice more complicated charms. Professor Flitwick paired them up -Mel was with Neville, who seemed delighted to have her as his partner- and walked them through each of the steps.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising! Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It took Mel exactly three attempts. When her feather moved, Professor Flitwick was so pleased he gave Gryffindor five points. She could've floated away in bliss too if it wasn't because an argument caught her attention, a few seats behind her.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione had been paired up with Ron, "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione flicked her wand and said, " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick, clapped, "Miss Granger's done it too!"

Ron was less than pleased when the lesson ended.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry and Mel as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Mel was about to deny it when Hermione's figure appeared in front of them, pushing Harry out of the way. Her heart broke when she noticed the tears.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked uneasy, "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"No friends?!" Mel exclaimed, catching people's attention, "She had me! And because of your stupid comments, she won't talk to me ever again!"

"Woah, Mel listen-" Ron tried to calm her down, panicking at her outburst.

He tried to hold one of her hands and she snatched it away, almost hitting Harry in the process.

"No, you listen to me," She demanded, "I'm sick of listening to your complaints. I'm sick of hearing your rude comments about Hermione. You are the one that's impossible to stand! You're childish and... and I don't think I can't keep tolerating this!"

She turned around, pushing through the bodies of a few students that had stopped to watch the scene unfold. Mel was too angry to feel embarrassed, she needed to find a quiet place to sort her mind out.

Her feet took her to a small courtyard, a perfect place to hide. She sat and closed her eyes, controlling her breathing.

"Are you alright, miss?" The voice startled her, she opened her eyes and stood up.

Mel froze, recognizing the person as the Slytherin boy that had helped her found her way to the Great Hall. _Erick_.

"What do you want?" She asked, grabbing her stuff, "Are you trying to find a reason to make fun of me?"

"Why, just because I'm a Slytherin I can't be nice?"

"Your housemates aren't nice, I don't have a way of knowing you are any different. Besides, didn't you say we're not allowed to speak to each other?"

"Well, yes," He smiled for the first time since she'd met him, "but I'm getting rather bored of following stupid traditions."

Mel stared at him, deciding that she wasn't going to waste her time.

"I'm alright," She brushed off some dirt from her robes, "It's a silly issue, not important..."

The boy crossed his arms and leaned against an arch.

"Try me."

"Why do you care?" She asked in exasperation.

"You looked upset when you left your friends."

"So you followed me," Mel replied, "I shouldn't trust you."

"Are you afraid cause I followed you or cause I'm a snake?" He raised a brow, "I presume that if I were from any other house, you wouldn't be so nervous"

It sounded like a challenge, the way his taunting smile said it like he could read her mind. It annoyed her even further that he was right, she didn't trust him cause he was in Slytherin.

Wasn't that the same thing people did to her? Call her good and bad things because she was a Dumbledore.

Wasn't it the same thing she hated about Ron and Harry whenever they talked about Hermione? Judging without knowing.

She sat down again, leaning her body against a column.

"My friends got into an argument and now I can't be with any of them"

"If I can give my opinion," Erick stepped closer, sitting in front of her, "I don't think you should worry. It's very likely that your friends will make peace, keep in mind it's only your first year."

"Harry said the same thing," Mel shook her head sorrowful, "Hermione doesn't like them, she'll keep bugging even if she decides to talk to me again. I don't know what to do..."

"If she brings you more worries than joy, why do you want to be friends with her?" The boy asked sternly.

"She's the only person that helps me be better in class and never compares my achievements to my uncle's. Besides, she pressures herself so much that I feel like I'm the only voice in her head telling her to slow down."

"If that's all... I could help you, you know? With your schoolwork. You don't need that Hermione girl, if she wants to break her back all the time that's her problem."

Mel stared intensely at the boy, trying to come up with an explanation as to why he was approaching her so out of the blue.

"You're being too nice to me," She replied calmly, "and I don't mean ' _too nice for a Slytherin_ ', I mean too nice for any normal person."

"I'm attentive," He shrugged, but Mel kept feeling that there was something else to it, "well-mannered"

"You don't know me," She insisted, "I could be a bad person"

Instead of worrying, Erick's smirk grew wider.

"That's the best part."

The girl tilted her head and frowned.

"You're weird."

He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm mysterious, there's a difference," He stood up, walking up to her and extending his hand, "let's start over again, shall we? I'm Erick Flint, second-year Slytherin. You are?"

Mel had to take a very important decision on the spot. She could either slap his hand away and pretend that conversation never happened, or she could take it. She thought about Malfoy and his friends, and how disgustingly rude they were; then about Ron and Harry, and how annoying they could get.

She looked up to Erick's eyes, a genuine courtesy on his expression, his hand waiting patiently for her, no malice involved.

Mel took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Mel Dumbledore. First-year Gryffindor."

Erick gave her a lopsided smile.

"Nice to meet you," He let go and picked up her bag.

"Likewise," She nodded. Still not smiling, she took the bag, "but uh, would you mind if we..?"

"If we keep it a secret?" He inquired, "I was hoping you'd ask. I do want to be your friend, but I think it's better if we keep it to ourselves, at least for now."

"I don't have a problem with that," She smiled in relief. 

It was small and brief, but for Erick, it seemed to be enough.

"Bye, Flint."

"Have a nice night, Miss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just go ahead and post the rest of this first book already, since it's the shortest of them all, I'll probably post book two at some point this week as well, so be ready! -Danny


	12. A Troll In The Dungeons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> '"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!" Percy shouted as he guided the children towards the Gryffindor tower.'

Hermione didn't show up for the rest of the day, Parvati and Lavender told her, moments before entering the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, that they had seen her in the girl's bathroom crying, but she wanted to be left alone.

Harry and Ron walked past, looking at her with the same embarrassed expression. Mel ignored them.

The girl entered the Great Hall and felt miserable at the fact that not even the Halloween decorations helped her feel better -not that they weren't impressive- she just felt like a terrible friend.

"Are these seats taken?" Harry asked shyly.

"No, but I prefer them that way," She answered coldly.

"I'm sorry," Harry sat down anyway, "I know that we were mean, please don't be upset-"

"It should be Ron the one who's sorry," She said, peeking over his shoulder to see the redheaded boy next to him, "and he should be apologizing to Hermione, not me."

"I _am_ sorry!" Ron scoffed, "But you can't deny that she's bossy and has no friends!"

"One can't go around saying rude things about someone that they don't know," Mel scowled, "say you're sorry and then I'll stop nagging!"

"I just did!"

"To Hermione, not to me!"

"Guys!" Harry cut their argument short, "I don't think Hermione will come tonight, and Ron can't go to the girl's toilets to apologize, right?"

Mel pondered.

"I guess," She grumbled, "...I guess there's not much he can do tonight, but he does have to promise he'll apologize tomorrow"

"Ron, can you please?" Harry asked with exasperation.

"Fine. But don't expect me to be her friend, Mel. I don't like her."

"As long as you keep things civil," She said, "I won't insist"

They were about to start eating when Professor Quirrel came sprinting down the hall. He reached the teacher's table and said:

"Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know" 

He fainted.

Dumbledore had to shoot several purple firecrackers to control the fuss.

"Prefects," He rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!" Percy shouted as he guided the children towards the Gryffindor tower.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron, "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Hallowe'en joke."

"Someone should have noticed," Mel argued, "aren't trolls supposed to be big?"

They passed several groups of students, suddenly, Harry grabbed their arms and stopped them.

"I've just thought – Hermione."

"What about her?"

"Oh no!" Mel covered her mouth in anguish, "She doesn't know about the troll!"

A horrible second pass, Ron finally spoke up:

"Oh, all right," He said through greeted teeth. "But Percy'd better not see us..."

They followed the Hufflepuff group until they reached the hall to the girl's toilets, footsteps were heard behind them and Ron hid next to a column.

"Percy!"

But it wasn't Percy, it was Snape.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered, "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Maybe he thinks he can take down the troll himself?" Mel offered, "You know, because he wants to teach defense against the dark arts and he thinks this might help his case"

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said.

Ron raised his head, frowning.

"Can you smell something?"

Mel coughed as she caught the smell, something acid and humid.

"Gross! What's that?"

The answer appeared moments after by the end of the corridor:

A troll at least twelve feet tall, dragged its feet through the corridor. Mel, Ron, and Harry stepped back, hiding further into the shadows. They watched as the creature peered over a door, slowly making its way inside.

"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Ron nervously.

"Now!" Mel ran, and the boys followed.

Harry slammed the door and turned the key.

"Yes!"

" _No_ ," She mumbled.

Her friends ran back through the passage without noticing her panic until a scream came out from the room.

"Guys!" Mel turned around to see them, "The girl's toilets!"

They stopped running, sharing a look and exclaiming:

" _HERMIONE_!"

The boys ran back as Mel turned the key, running inside with her friends following suit.

The troll was making his way to Hermione, who was too terrified to move, cornered on the opposite wall.

"Confuse it!" Harry said.

Ron slammed a tap against the wall, catching the Troll's attention. It turned around and made its way back to Harry.

"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron shouted, and he threw a pipe this time directly to the troll.

Harry circled the creature and pushed Hermione, trying to move her.

"Come on, run, run!"

"Hermione!" Mel yelled from her spot, a few feet away from Ron, "Move!"

But the girl had her eyes fixated on the creature in front of her, mouth agape in horror.

"What do we do?" Mel asked to no one in particular.

The troll growled and ran towards Ron, finally making a decision.

Without saying a word, Harry sprinted towards the troll and jumped on his back, accidentally stabbing one of its nostrils.

The troll howled in pain, twisting around in a desperate attempt to get Harry off of him.

"Harry don't move!" Mel warned him, running towards Hermione and avoiding the troll's sudden movements.

Hermione had sunken on her spot, hiding her face behind her hands in trembling fear. Mel grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her up, decided to get her out.

Behind her, she heard Ron's voice:

_"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The club flew out of the troll's hand, and it rose high above its head. Taking advantage of the troll's confusion, Mel dragged Hermione to the other side of the room where the door was.

"Get out," She demanded, pushing her outside.

"You can't stay!"

At that moment, a crack echoed through the room and everything went silent, Mel turned around in time to see the troll fall flat on his face, with Harry still hanging from the neck.

"Glasses!" Mel rushed over to the boy, helping him on his feet, "Are you alright?"

"I... I think so," He examined his body, pale as paper and shaking.

"That was a dumb thing to do!" She exclaimed, pulling him in for a hug. It seemed that she was saying that more often than she would have liked.

"Is it... dead?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so," said Harry, gently stepping away, "I think it's just been knocked out."

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Urgh – troll boogies."

"Be thankful it's troll boogies and not your blood," Mel looked over to Ron, who was looking at the troll with wide eyes, "are you okay?"

The door slammed open: McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell entered the room, watching the scene in front of them.

McGonagall was pissed, she looked at Harry, Ron, and Mel in a way she'd never done before. Snape got closer to the troll as Quirrell sat down in a toilet, clutching his heart.

"What on earth were you thinking of? You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Ron still had his hand up with the wand pointing up, Mel put his hand down gently.

"We're sorry, Professor," She started, having no idea of how to explain it all, "we... uh-"

"Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."

Mel looked over to her friend in stunned silence.

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron dropped his wand. Mel realized Snape was looking at her and she remained calm, her expression as neutral as possible.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. Mel tried to get me out but I was too stubborn to leave, they didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Mel discretely peered over to Harry and Ron, she was proud to realize that they were excellent actors.

"Well – in that case ... Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione just lowered her head, not saying a word to defend herself. Mel also felt proud of that, finally, the boys knew she was a good person.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall, "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione left. McGonagall turned to them.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They were quick to oblige.

"We should have got more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled once they were two floors up.

"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Harry corrected.

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted, "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.

"And she wouldn't have been in there at all if you hadn't insulted her in the first place," Mel added.

When they entered the common room, the rest of the students were eating and chatting happily. However, Hermione was alone, waiting for them.

Mel stopped in front of her, watching with hopeful eyes. The boys stood on each side of Mel trying to find something to say.

" _Thanks_ ," The four of them spoke in unison, Ron and Harry quickly rushing away to get plates and escape from the girls. 

Mel grabbed Hermione's hand before she could leave.

"Are we friends again?"

Hermione smiled awkwardly, flushed red.

"If you still want to..."

Mel caught her by surprise, giving her a tight hug.

"I do!" She exhaled, "I missed you tons, Hermione"

"I... I did too, a little." She stepped back, "can we eat now? I'm very hungry"

"Yes, we can."

Mel grabbed a plate and put as much food in it as she could, chatting about their next charms lesson. When they looked for a place to sit, Ron and Harry called their names.

Hermione stopped, hesitant. Mel didn't notice until she was already seated next to Ron, she looked up to Hermione, nervous.

"Oh, uh..." She stammered, "We could... we could find another place-"

She was about to stand up when Harry spoke up.

"Would you like a piece of cake, Hermione?" He asked politely, offering some from a plate.

Hermione blushed, answering instantly.

"No thanks, I have cookies..."

"I prefer doughnuts," Ron replied with his mouth full, "mum used to make some on my birthday as breakfast"

"My mum makes cakes for me and Harry on our birthdays," Mel replied, "they're so good!"

"My dad takes me to the movies," Hermione said, shyly sitting between Harry and Mel.

"Movies?" Ron asked, "Are those the pictures with sound?"

Mel laughed.

"Yes, and they're really good"

"Wizards don't have movies?" Hermione asked in curiosity.

"We have pictures?" Ron cleaned his mouth with the back of his sleeve, grabbing another piece of chicken, "Why would we need movies?"

"It's not the same thing," Harry replied, "movies aren't real, they're stories"

"Like Back to the future?" Mel offered.

"Like what?" Ron frowned, more confused than before.

"Nevermind," Hermione grinned, "you want cookies?"

"Sure," Ron replied, with camaraderie.

"Thank you for giving her a chance," Mel whispered to Ron once Hermione and Harry started talking about their muggle lives.

Ron shrugged casually.

"She's a nice girl."


	13. The First Match.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'When Hermione joined the group, things started to go smoother and faster. The lessons were getting interesting as well as difficult, but now Mel had someone to study -Ron was quite relieved- Hermione now accepted that relaxing wasn't a bad thing and overall was in a better mood.'

When Hermione joined the group, things started to go smoother and faster. The lessons were getting interesting as well as difficult, but now Mel had someone to study -Ron was quite relieved- Hermione now accepted that relaxing wasn't a bad thing and overall was in a better mood.

Harry on the other side, wasn't so happy: The Quidditch season had started and Wood was extra demanding.

"I know books don't work when it comes to sports, but I could lend you my copy of _'Quidditch through the ages'_ that I took from the library," Hermione offered, "it could help?"

"Yes, thank you," Harry smiled, "I need all the help I can get."

The morning before the game they were sitting outside on the courtyard, Harry anxiously reading the last pages of the book while keeping themselves warm thanks to the lovely blue fire Hermione was an expert at making.

Snape crossed the yard limping, the four kids sat closer together so he wouldn't see the little flame inside the jam jar. However, they caught his eye, and he crossed the path to get to them.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

Harry showed him the book.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"What a crow!" Mel hissed when Snape was out of sight, "Five points?"

"He just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily, "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

_________________________________

That evening the common room was excited about the game. Harry was restless, fidgeting with his tie.

"I'm going to ask Snape for the book," He said, standing up suddenly, "I need it"

"It's late, maybe you should just try to take a nap?" Mel retorted.

"Then he won't sleep for the rest of the night," Hermione replied, "but are you sure about this, Harry?"

"I need it so I can distract myself, maybe if in front of other teachers he'll have no choice but to give me the book"

"Rather you than me," Said Ron and Hermione in unison.

"I'll go with you," Mel offered.

"It won't take long, stay"

"Alright," She frowned, watching as he left the common room, "I'm not sure if Quidditch's actually the best thing to happen to him, it looks like it's killing him..."

"He'll get used to it," George sat beside her, "we were nervous in our first game too"

"But we were even more excited to throw heavy things at people we didn't like," Fred added, sitting in front of them, "besides, this is just a silly game, nothing compared to defeating a _troll_ , right, Dumbledore?

"Weren't you avoiding mischief?" George teased, "Yet you are the one causing trouble"

"That was weeks ago," She grumbled, "and we didn't do it on purpose"

"Yeah well, we couldn't talk to you before, it almost feels like you're avoiding us," George tilted his head, "To be fair, we've caused as little trouble as you, Wood has us real' busy this term"

"Give us a chance," Fred stretched his hand to shake hers, "we'll keep it professional"

She looked at the twins carefully.

"I won't get you out of trouble by being your friend, you know?"

"You think we want to be friends out of pure interest?" George put a hand on his chest, "How dare you?"

"But we did hear about your talent for getting out of trouble, and we would love to stay close just in case," Fred smiled brightly, "besides, it's weird that a Ron's friend doesn't like us, you _have_ to like us, we come in the package."

"Leave her alone," Ron said tiredly.

"Ronnie, we're talking to the lady, _you_ leave us alone" George stood up, slapping the back of Ron's head.

"Let's go, they don't appreciate us around here..."

Mel was about to reply when Harry stumbled inside the common room, eyes wide.

"Did you get it?" Ron asked, "What's the matter?"

Harry told them what happened in the teacher's room. He'd seen Snape and Filch talking about the three-headed dog.

"You know what this means?" He asked, "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en! That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to create a diversion!"

"No – he wouldn't," Hermione said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," Ron rolled his eyes, "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

"Something small," Mel said, remembering the package she saw on Gringotts that day. 

Noticing the three kids staring, she felt too self-conscious to continue.

"Or not?"

"We should just go to have dinner," Hermione put their schoolwork down, "that way Harry can go to bed early"

_________________________________

Harry didn't sleep and he didn't want to eat the next morning. Mel was beyond worried, so were Ron and Hermione.

"You've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," offered Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry.

"What Seamus means," Mel insisted, "is that you need to focus, and you can't focus with an empty stomach, Glasses." 

He refused to eat.

On their way to the Quidditch pitch Mel stayed behind, Ron and Hermione gave her inquiring looks.

"It's alright, I'll catch up!"

She made her way towards the Gryffindor's changing rooms.

"Lady!" Fred was the one who saw her first, "Have you come to wish me luck?"

"Very funny. Where's Harry?"

"Harry!" Fred looked over his shoulder, "you got a fan here!"

He looked at her and winked, disappearing inside the room. Harry replaced him at the door, looking rather pale.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yes, it's just- uh..." She fumbled with the end of her scarf, did Fred really had to call her a _fan_? "I just wanted to wish you good luck- not that you need it! I've seen you fly, you're great. What I mean to say is... if it doesn't go as planned, I'll still be your friend. We'll still appreciate you. You know, as usual..."

She gave him a small smile, Harry still looked nervous, but he smiled back.

"I know... thank you for coming"

She was about to hug him when she caught the twins watching, both with teasing smiles on their faces. She stepped back, clearing her throat.

"See you outside, Glasses."

"See you..."

As she walked to the stands, someone approached her.

"Goodmorning Miss," Erick was wearing his green and silver scarf, "I heard Potter is the new seeker... is he any good?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"That blond twat wouldn't shut up about it," He chuckled, "He might be spoiled, but he's also intelligent. He figured it out a week ago..."

"Malfoy?" Mel grinned, "Was he mad?"

" _Fuming_ ," Erick raised his eyebrows, "He really hates your friend"

"He hates us all," She shrugged, "aren't you supposed to be friendly and good with your housemates? He's a snake, after all"

"Good?" He frowned, "If I wasted my time helping others then none of us would succeed"

"That's not a happy thought," She tilted her head, "and it doesn't make a lot of sense, you were good to me when we met"

"That's different."

"I can't see how"

"I think you're interesting. Malfoy is whiny and he doesn't have much to give, it's easy," He looked over to Mel, now that they were getting closer to the stands he moved slightly so there would be more space between them, "You could bring me to interesting points in my life, Malfoy's just boring... Talking about boring, my brother's the captain of our team and he likes to cheat a lot. You better hope for Potter to walk out of the game unharmed. Or you could just, you know, keep your wand ready"

She didn't know what to say to that. Gulping, she nodded, her eyes fixed at some point in the distance.

"Good luck, _lion_ "

"Same for you..."

She followed the sign _' **Potter for President'**_ , it was incredible, if Harry didn't want to keep it she certainly would.

Mel soon confirmed that Quidditch was her favorite sport. Lee Jordan was a marvelous narrator and he made her laugh a lot, the players were all really good, including the ones in Slytherin.

Or they were, until Marcus Flint flew and crash into Harry to prevent him from catching the snitch.

"Foul!" The Gryffindors screamed around her.

Mel remembered what Erick told her about his brother, did he know they were planning on doing that? She was worried sick about Harry's safety.

"They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air." Hagrid, who had joined them not long ago in the stands, shook his head.

_"So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating – "_

_"Jordan!"  
_

_"I mean, after that open and revolting foul –"  
_

_"Jordan, I'm warning you –"  
_

_"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue playing, Gryffindor still in possession."_

Everything was going well, but Mel, who was the only one with her full attention on Harry, was the first to notice his broom moving out of control.

"Mione!" Mel grabbed Hermione's sleeve to get her attention, "Hey! Something's wrong!"

Harry was going higher and higher, his broom gave an aggressive jerk and threw him out of it, he was now hanging on one hand. Mel gasped and covered her eyes in horror, hoping for the worst.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," She said in terror, "what's happening?"

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"The Slytherins are doing things to his broom!" Mel cried.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

Mel felt movement beside her and uncovered one eye to see Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Ron inquired.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape – look."

Ron and Mel grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath.

"He's doing something – jinxing the broom," said Hermione.

"What should we do?"

"Leave it to me." Hermione stood up and disappeared into the crowd.

Ron lifted the binoculars and watched carefully at their friend.

"I can't watch!" Mel cried, covering her eyes again, "He's gonna get hurt! Erick was right-"

"Who's Erick?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Oh no!" Mel was looking at Harry again, the twins tried to get closer, to get him on one of their brooms. It was useless, every time they'd get closer, the broom would fly higher, so they resumed to flying in circles underneath him in case he fell.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.

Then, after few awful seconds, Harry regained control, mounting back.

"Finally," She sighed, passing a hand through her hair.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said.

Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes and holding tightly to Mel's hand.

"Now let's hope for this to end well," She hugged Neville.

Harry speed towards the ground and without saying anything he clasped a hand on his mouth, falling in all fours on the pitch, he coughed, something falling out.

"I've got the Snitch!" He shouted.

"He what?!" Mel leaned on the edge of the stands to get a better view.

"Careful!" Hagrid exclaimed, grabbing the back of her robe.

_________________________

"It was Snape," The four of them were now in Hagrid's hut, "Hermione, Mel and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

They shared a look, pondering if they should tell him. Harry was the one who spoke first.

"I found out something about him, he tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about fluffy?" he said.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it."

"Rubbish, Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" Hermione inquired, "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –"

"Aha!" said Harry. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious.

"Leave it Glasses, he won't tell us who that is..." Mel stood up, ready to go back to the castle.

Hagrid seemed relieved until she added:

"I guess we'll have to look ourselves!"


	14. Secret Longings.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> '"And?" Harry asked, "What do you see?"
> 
> The mirror was wrong, utterly mistaken. It was cruel and it played tricks with their minds.
> 
> "Not my father," She mumbled, "this mirror is bad, Harry. I think we should go forget it exists."'

It was mid-December and she still hadn't sent a letter to her mum since Harry's first quidditch match. One morning Hogwarts woke up covered in snow and the few owls that dared to deliver their letters had to be taken care of afterwards, so Hedwig couldn't leave the castle unless they wanted her to get sick.

Harry was staying for Christmas, so she decided to send a short apologetic letter telling her mum that she'd decided to stay, explaining that she wanted to see the Christmas feast.

She didn't tell her about the troll or the incident during the Quidditch match, or the Slytherin boy that she had befriended. What started as something innocent soon turned into a secret retaliation to her mum for keeping her a whole decade in the dark.

Mel sent letters to her uncle as well, they were all a good amount of boring in case her mum asked about the news he was getting from her. It was the first time she would be away from her family during Christmas but to be honest, she only half-regretted it.

The last week of school, while they were leaving the dungeons after the potions lesson, the kids ran into Hagrid holding a large fir tree.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy asked in annoyance, "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

The boy had been acting worse than usual after the match, upset about the score and wanting to upset them twice as much. The boys managed to remain indifferent to his rude comments, but they were slowly losing their patience.

Ron grabbed ahold of Malfoy's collar at the exact moment Snape appeared at the end of the stairs. Hermione tried to stop her friend but she wasn't fast enough.

"WEASLEY!"

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape neutrally, "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

"And you're not going to punish Malfoy for his acts?" Mel asked in disbelief.

"Miss Dumbledore, I would recommend you to think twice before speaking like that to a Professor," He growled at her, "I said, move along."

"Just leave it," Hermione whispered, avoiding Snape's glare.

"I'll get him," said Ron, once they were out of sight, "one of these days, I'll get him –"

"Yeah, and you'd only get punished for it," Mel huffed, "he's so unfair! Malfoy's a bloody rat and he knows it!"

"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

The children followed Hagrid, and they were certainly not disappointed in what they found.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me – we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library"

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is, you know, Mel's idea."

"You what?! Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'"

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere – just give us a hint – I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid. We really are," Mel said as they hurried to the library, "but you gave us no choice!"

"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione, after a good amount of useless research, "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.

________________________________

A few days after Hermione was gone, she found herself lonely again; only that this time it wasn't as bad as before. She did have to sleep alone, but at least she had Ron and Harry to keep her company, and now she didn't feel as out of place.

One early morning she received a letter from Erick.

He informed her that his family was staying at home during the holidays, they usually traveled to America with some distant relatives but he was glad they changed plans, apparently, he hated traveling long distances.

"Is it Emily?" Harry asked as she finished reading the letter, "What does it say?"

"It's from my uncle," She lied, "nothing important, just the usual..."

The letter reminded her about an unfinished business that she had to deal with; that night, she approached Fred and George as they arrived in the common room, covered in snow.

She cleared her throat, Fred looked at her with curiosity.

"Lady," He smiled, "are we worthy of your time now?"

"How did we break the spell?" George smirked.

"I've been meaning to talk to you ever since the match," She said, "I saw the way you tried to save Harry when he was about to fall off his broom. I thought that was very nice and brave... I wanted to thank you"

"You're welcome," Fred raised his brow, "though I don't understand why are _you_ thanking us"

"I care about Harry a lot," She explained, "I appreciate when other people do it too. If you still want to... I'll be happy to be your friend."

"Blimey, lady!" Fred laughed, "Ron was right, Harry's your weak spot!"

Mel blushed at his statement.

"H-He's not!" She stammered, "I don't even know what that means!"

"Let's not get into an argument so soon, alright?" George put an arm around her shoulders and guided her to a chair, "Now that you finally accepted our friendship, we'll tell you why we wanted to make peace-"

"You only wanted to be friends to get something in return?"

"Get?" Fred chuckled, "No! _Give._ "

"What?"

"You want to get back at Malfoy without getting caught, we have the answer."

"We can teach you our ways-"

"As long as you teach us yours."

"I don't have any 'ways," She stated, "it's just luck"

"Well then, maybe if we hang around you enough, the luck will follow us," George offered jokingly.

"What do you say?"

"Why are you offering this to me instead of Ron?"

"He'd give away our tricks on his first try-"

"Now, you have an _awful_ tempter but we trust that you can be sneakier"

She considered it for a moment.

"I'm in."

___________________________

Mel woke up to a pile of presents next to her bed. There were more than what she usually got, and she opened them happily.

Hagrid gave her a plushie -handmade- that looked very similar to Fang. Hermione gave her a beautiful set of small notebooks with their own pen, one was magically changed so only the owner could see what was written in it. Her mum sent her another fantasy book that she couldn't wait to start reading and her uncle gave her a box of different types of chocolate, muggle and magical.

It was also the first time she got something from his great-uncle and Harry. The boy had given her ink that could change colors as you kept writing. It was lovely.

When she opened her last present, she gasped:

Since it was thin and not so heavy, she was expecting a book at first. Instead, she found an old portrait with a picture of her father as a young boy. He was about eight, sitting outside a small cottage surrounded by grass and feeding a goat. Matt was waving at her with a big smile, his eyes were clear blue.

She put the picture on her nightstand and got out of bed, deciding to give a little visit to the boys' dormitory.

"Merry Christmas!" She said, walking into their room, "What'd you got- _Merlin's beard_ , Glasses! Your body!"

"It's an invisibility cloak!" Exclaimed Ron excitedly, "look, there's a note..."

Harry leaned over to pick up a piece of paper and read it.

"I'd give anything for one of these," Ron said. "Anything. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

Mel could see something was off on the way he was glaring at the letter, however, she didn't ask. Seconds later the door opened and the twins walked in, wearing blue jumpers with their initials on it.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look – Harry's got a Weasley jumper, too!"

"Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's jumper. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Did you get one as well, Mel?" George asked her.

"No..." She examined their jumpers, "but they're really pretty..."

"Don't feel bad, she probably thought you'd be getting thousands of better things and she felt embarrassed to send you one," Fred replied, seeing her disappointment.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron complained, but he started to pull it over his head anyway.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge."

Mel laughed, sitting on Harry's bed.

"What's all this noise?" Percy Weasley was now inside the room as well.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one."

"I – don't – want –" The twins forced the jumper over his head.

"And you're not sitting with the Prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They marched out of the room with Percy still trapped inside his jumper. Mel hadn't noticed she was laughing until she felt Ron's stare.

"What?" She chuckled.

"You think they're funny now?"

"Oh," She had forgotten that they didn't know about her chat with the twins, "well, it's your family and I must be nice to them"

"Sure," Ron said skeptically.

"I still think you like them," Harry teased.

Mel threw a pillow at him.

____________________________

The day continued its course being one of her favorite memories of all times.

Everything was just lovely: The food, the gifts, the time spent with her friends. She even enjoyed watching as Percy chased down the twins before going to bed because they had taken his prefect badge.

She dreamed about her dad that night, a tall man picking her up in the air and making her laugh until her stomach hurt, he had the prettiest eyes, he made her feel safe.

The next morning, Harry told them about his little adventure during the night. She was upset, now that he owned an invisibility cloak things were slightly different, he did have a new layer of protection, which meant he was twice as reckless.

"You could have woken me up," said Ron, clearly a tad upset like her.

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron said eagerly.

"Me too," Mel nodded, "I want to see my dad and my grandparents..."

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys and the Dumbledore-Sultens, you'll be able to show me everyone."

"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"

Harry was acting strange, he was sort of fidgeting with the edge of his shirt.

"Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."

"He's thinking about that mirror," Mel replied, in a low voice, "it's the first time he'd seen his parents, you see."

That night the three kids went out, covered by Harry's cloak. 

He couldn't remember the exact path and it had been an hour since they left the tower.

"I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back."

"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

"Shut it!" She whispered, "there's someone there..."

It was just the ghost of a woman, so they kept walking a few more minutes until Harry whispered:

"It's here – just here – yes! See?" Harry whispered, entering the room and rushing over to the mirror.

"I can't see anything"

"Look! Look at them all... there are loads of them..."

"I can only see you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."

While they were talking, Mel observed the mirror in front of her, reading the inscription above with interest:

_**'Erised straeh ruoy tub ecaf ruoy ton wohsi'  
** _

It didn't make sense. Out of curiosity, she read it backwards -it was a mirror, after all- and a few tries later, she finally found its meaning:

_**'Is how not your face but your hearts desire'** _

She frowned, what did _that_ mean?

"Look at me!" Ron exclaimed.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No – I'm alone – but I'm different – I look older – and I'm Head Boy!"

"What?"

_I see._

"I am – I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to – and I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup – I'm Quidditch captain, too!"

_What I wish I had._

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

No, Mel had an idea of what could be the meaning of their reflections.

"How can it? All my family are dead – let me have another look –"

"You're not making any sense," She sentenced after a moment, "and it's my turn, I haven't seen my reflection"

The boys stepped back, giving her enough room to stand in front of the mirror.

With her breathing uneven, she got closer. Mel wanted to see her dad standing beside her.

But as expected, her dad wasn't there. She saw herself a few years older just like Ron, taller and prettier. Most of her classmates stood behind her, whispering in amazement.

Mel could see her mother too, proud and with teary eyes next to Dumbledore, who looked at her with a big smile that said: _'See that girl? She's my family'_

"I'm older too," She frowned, "I'm..."

She spotted Harry, making his way to where she was. Older and handsome, wearing his quidditch uniform and beaming at her. Harry stood next to her and-

She turned bright red. With wide eyes she stumbled back, avoiding her reflection as well as her friends' questioning looks.

"And?" Harry asked, "What do you see?"

The mirror was wrong, utterly mistaken. It was cruel and it played tricks with their minds.

"Not my father," She mumbled, "this mirror is bad, Harry. I think we should go forget it exists."

As for what she saw, Mel was certain she'd do her best to forget it.


	15. Hagrid's Little Pet.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Dear Ron,  
> How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.
> 
> Send me an answer as soon as possible.
> 
> Love, Charlie'

Mel swore on her father that she would never talk about what she'd seen in the mirror. Not to her mum, not to her friends. _Especially_ not to her best friend.

Luckily for her, the twins used the last days to show her secret passageways around the castle, the ones everyone knew and the ones only a few knew. She used that as an excuse to avoid Ron and Harry.

Harry went back to the mirror only once thanks to Dumbledore, who somehow found out and talked to him, making him promise he wouldn't go back. Mel was relieved, the boys had tried to find out what she'd seen for days, but after Hermione came back the conversation turned to the next priority: _Nicolas Flamel._

Between the secret passages and funny spells, the schoolwork, and their search, Mel didn't have time to worry about her silly secrets. She didn't have time to send long explanatory letters to her mum either, not that she was trying to, but at least she had an excuse for it now.

One night after quidditch practice, Mel was eagerly waiting for the twins to go back so she could show them she now knew how to make the teacups bite, when Harry got in alone, looking like he was about to faint.

"What's wrong?" She momentarily forgot she wasn't talking much with her friend and sat next to him.

Harry told them the bad news: Snape was going to be refereeing the quidditch match.

"Don't play," said Hermione.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

"Why?" Mel frowned, "that's a terrible idea considering how adept you are to getting injured"

"Thanks, Mel"

Neville entered the common room and they didn't know how he managed to climb all the way to the tower without falling on his face: His legs were stuck together thanks to a curse that Hermione was quick to put an end to.

"Don't laugh!" Mel whispered to the boys as she stood up to help Neville.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily, "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practise that on."

"What a rat!" Mel rummaged through her pockets and gave him a piece of chocolate, "Eat Neville, you'll feel better..."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head, nibbling on the chocolate.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron, "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked.

"Oh, Neville," Mel shook her head, "that's not true"

Harry searched in his pocket too and offered to the boy his last chocolate frog.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

"I don't think Slytherin is the problem," Mel grumbled, "I do think Harry's right, though. You're better than Malfoy."

Neville smiled weakly as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, guys... I think I'll go to bed... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

Harry took the card, he examined it.

"Dumbledore again," he said. "He was the first one I ever –"

He gasped. Mel jumped and watched as Harry looked at them with wide eyes.

"I've found him!" He whispered-yelled, "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here – listen to this: ' _Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel_ '!"

"I didn't read the card the first time," Mel examined it, "that's the reason why I didn't remember!"

"Stay here!" Hermione sprung up to her feet and ran back to the girls' dormitories; when she came back, she was holding a large book, "I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" said Ron, but Hermione shushed him.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Oh!" Mel replied, "that... that's good?"

"The what?" said Harry and Ron.

"Oh, honestly, don't you three read? Look – read that, there." She pushed the book towards them:

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

_There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

"See?" said Hermione, "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

___________________________

After their Defends Against the Dark Arts lesson, Harry let them know he'd made up his mind.

"I'm going to play, If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Not all Slytherins..." Mel corrected under her breath, however, she was proud of his decision.

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the pitch," said Hermione.

The day came around and after they wished him good luck, the three friends made their way to the stands and sat next to each other.

"Now, don't forget, it's _Locomotor Mortis_ ," Hermione muttered.

"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

"Shut up, you two," Mel looked around, "the place is full this time, everyone must be dying to see Slytherin lose..."

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," Ron said, "Look – they're off. _Ouch!_ "

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

Mel felt her blood boil.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

"Happy thoughts, little kittens and Harry flying safe and sound..." Mel muttered to herself so the anger wouldn't get the best of her.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

She looked over to him and smiled, searching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle burst out laughing.

"You tell him, Neville," Ron mumbled without looking away from the game.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

"I'm warning you, Malfoy – one more word –"

"Don't you have a wider variety of insults on your sleeve? It's getting boring," Mel scoffed.

"Why, you ran out of ways to entertain the voices in your head, _nutty?_ "

"Guys!" said Hermione suddenly. "Harry –!"

"What?! Where?!"

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

Ron jumped over his seat and threw himself at Malfoy, Neville then decided to help, climbing and following Ron.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, not noticing what was happening beside her.

Mel did notice, but she was divided between letting things run its course or put a stop to it.

Harry caught the Snitch.

"YES!" Mel yelled, and at the same time, she turned around and kicked Malfoy on the stomach to separate the boy from his friend, "leave him!"

"Ron! Mel! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.

"Get off, you monkeys!" Mel was pointing her wand to Goyle, and without knowing how, a bunch of blue sparks came out of it hitting Goyle in the face and disorienting him.

She looked down and hid her wand away.

" _Oops_ ," She mumbled, then she grabbed Ron and Neville by the collar of their shirts and forced them to stand up, "stop it, stop it, stop it!"

They stood up panting, Neville was slowly losing conscience.

Malfoy stood up too, looking around frantically.

Crabbe and Goyle rushed over to keep the fight going, but Mel and Hermione lifted their wands and pointed them to their faces.

"If I were you, I'd walk out of here with the little bit of dignity I got left. And wash your faces before someone ask what happened and you gotta say Longbottom did _that_ to your eye," Mel warned, pointing her wand directly to Crabbe.

Behind her she heard Neville's body falling flat.

_____________________________

Mel, Ron, and Hermione found Harry on the hall, they were coming back from the infirmary.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, "And I gave Malfoy a black eye and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right – talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this..."

He guided them to an empty classroom and told them what he had seen in the forbidden forest.

"So we were right, it is the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's "hocus- pocus" – I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through–"

"So, you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

"Well..." Mel added slowly, "not if we can help it"

_____________________________

Hermione was losing her mind thanks to school, so Mel was spending more time with the twins during her free time.

She was slowly forgetting the mirror incident, yet the nagging feeling on her chest every time Harry said something funny or he laughed at one of her jokes, prevailed. She thought that maybe a little bit of space would do the trick.

Unfortunately, as the exams drew closer she was forced to go back, she needed Hermione's revisions to make sure she was studying everything.

She'd been lost in thought for almost half an hour, observing a grey cat running around chasing birds. Mel wished she could be it, most of her afternoons were now spent in the library and the girl was slowly losing her interest in the lessons.

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

She looked up, forgetting about the cat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron, "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St–"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"Yeah, Ron, what's the matter with you?" Mel grinned, throwing a little ball of parchment to her friend.

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, ignoring the battle that Ron and Mel were having next to him, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'posed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –"

"See you later, then," said Harry.

"Bye Hagrid- _Ouch_!" Mel rubbed her eye and glared at Ron, "I wasn't ready!"

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, standing up and cursing under his breath when Mel's paper ball hit his ear.

"Stop!" Hermione warned her, "Pince will kick us out if you keep making a mess!"

"Sorry," Mel grabbed her wand from the table and with a swift movement, she whispered, " _Scourgify_!"

The paper balls disappeared.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Hermione frowned.

"Fred and George," She said proudly.

"You're spending too much time with them," Her friend scowled, "they're a bad influence"

"They're nice," Mel retorted and before Harry could add it she said, "and I _don't_ say it because I like them-"

"I wasn't going to say that!" He replied, "I was going to say I... agree with Hermione"

"What?" She grinned, "Why?"

"You're with them all the time," The boy argued, "it's a bit unfair that you complain about me changing you for Ron when you barely talk to me after class now..."

"Glasses," Mel supported her head with one hand, squinting her eyes and smirking at the boy, "am I detecting some _envy_?"

Harry was about to reply when Ron came back with a large pile of books.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide._ "

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told us so the first time we ever met him," said Harry.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden – anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

"Maybe he's just reading for fun?" Mel offered, but she knew it was unlikely.

______________________________

"So – yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

It was getting late, the four kids arrived at Hagrid's hut ready to get more information.

"Yes," said Harry. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'poseyeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on 'round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice, "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

"There's gotta be few people on that list, I bet," Mel kept going, picking up on what her friend was trying to do.

Hagrid beamed, Harry and Ron looked proudly at their friends.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... let's see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some o' the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall –" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

"Yeah – yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered, "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid.

Mel noticed his nervous glance towards the fire and something tingled on her neck.

"Hagrid – what's that?"

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard. "That's – er ..."

"That's an egg," Mel stated.

A Norwegian Ridgeback, to be precise. Hagrid was planning on keeping it, worse yet, he was planning to keep it inside his house. His _wooden_ house.

________________________________

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed one evening as he finished the pile of homework he had to do for the day.

"Don't be dramatic," Mel's eyes caught sight of the cat from days ago, silently laying on one of the chairs, "I'm going to bed..."

She stood up and crouched in front of it, carefully stroking its head.

"Hello little one..." She grinned, not noticing certain boy in glasses looking intently at her and the cat.

Days later Hagrid sent them the news via Hedwig, a note that said _**'It's hatching'**_ messily written in parchment.

"It's nearly out," He ushered them inside once they went to check on him during their morning break.

Mel loved it more than she had expected, but she was also horrified when they saw Malfoy watching from outside.

Hagrid wasn't faced, though. He kept the dragon and things got out of hand, Norbert was getting a bit too big and too angry, he couldn't stay any longer. Harry had the brilliant idea to send Ron's brother a letter asking him if he could take Norbert away and it would be done. Problem solved, they wouldn't have to worry about Hagrid getting fired.

Mel was sitting in the empty common room along with Harry and Hermione, the three of them waiting for Ron, currently helping Hagrid with Norbert. She was playing with the grey cat she was now acquaintance with, noticing a slight change in her -she knew now that it was a girl- body shape.

"Whose cat is that?" Harry asked, sitting beside her.

"I don't know, she's always here..."

"Is..?"

"Yes, I think she's pregnant," Mel beamed, softly touching the cat's belly, "she's got a few weeks left, I think. I would love to have a cat, you know?" Harry nodded. 

Ron walked inside the room loudly and took off Harry's cloak, revealing a bloody handkerchief.

"It bit me! I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

"So he's lost his mind," Mel stood up, "and you'll have to go with Pomfrey, Ron. Your hand looks terrible."

A light tap on the window distracted them from his injury.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The four of them put their heads together to read the note.

_'Dear Ron,  
How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love, Charlie'_

"Honestly Ron, your brothers are so amazi-"

"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," Harry cut her off, "It shouldn't be too difficult – I think the Cloak's big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

_____________________________

Ron agreed to visit the hospital wing, now that his hand hurt twice as much. Harry, Mel, and Hermione decided to pay him a visit to see how he was doing.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me – I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me – I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

"He's working hard for a second black eye, my treat," Mel grumbled, "don't feel bad, he deserved that and more"

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," added Hermione.

"Midnight on Saturday!" Ron said in a hoarse voice, "Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered – Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert!"


	16. The Creature In The Forest.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Mel and Harry approached when a cloaked figure appeared crawling over to the animal, drinking the blood from its wound. Malfoy let out a high, terrified scream as he ran away with Fang beside him, Mel and Harry stood there, terrified. Harry yelped in pain, a hand on his forehead.'

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry lamented, "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

On Saturday, the three kids -Harry, Mel, and Hermione- went to Hagrid's hut to take his _'little baby'_ away _._

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed as they disappeared under the cloak with Norbert beside them, "Mummy will never forget you!"

" _Mummy_ ," Mel shook her head, "why a dragon, why not another sweet, black puppy?"

They walked in complete darkness, voices catching their attention.

"Detention!" McGonagall shouted, "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you –"

"You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming – he's got a dragon!"

Mel had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't laugh. She was beaming, Malfoy finally getting what he deserved!

They waited at the top of the astronomy tower. About ten minutes later, four brooms appeared in the night sky. 

It was fast and easy: Charlie's friends were nice, they took Norbert as if it was an everyday thing, and they flew, they went further... until they were completely gone.

They were downstairs when Mel realized something important was missing. Before she could warn her friends, a voice came from a dark corner:

"Well, well, well," Filch whispered, able to see them since they forgot Harry's cloak back in the tower. "we _are_ in trouble."

_____________________________

Mel was silent. She was weighing her options, what could she do to get everyone out of trouble.

She was a Dumbledore! Somewhere inside that pea-brain she had the social skills to make their way out of this mess.

"Harry!" Neville appeared next to McGonagall, "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag–"

Harry shook his head violently next to her, Professor McGonagall saw him.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr Filch says you were up the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

Mel closed her eyes, breathing heavily. This was it, if she didn't give a proper explanation, they'd be doomed. 

But what could possibly explain the situation that didn't give them away?

Draco was found and he was telling stories about a dragon and Harry... they didn't get along with Malfoy, all the teachers knew that... 

Mel took a moment to control her voice and then, in a very serious tone she answered:

"We lied."

Harry looked at her, Mel avoided his eyes afraid that it might give them away.

"You lied?" McGonagall asked harshly, "About what?"

Mel shook her head taking her time, she added:

"We wanted to teach Malfoy a lesson."

Her Professor nodded once.

"I see. I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on,' said Professor McGonagall to Mel's relief, "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

"No, Professor," Mel added in panic, watching Neville's disappointed face, "Neville wasn't supposed to hear it... but that doesn't excuse us"

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall, "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. Miss Dumbledore, you've been spending your time with the Weasley boys, I should've guessed something was going on. All five of you will receive detentions – yes, you too, Mr Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"Fifty?" Harry gasped.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall.

"Professor – please –"

"You can't –"

Mel put a hand on Harry's shoulder, shaking her head frantically.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Next morning was a nightmare, students were insulting her and every single one of her friends except for Ron. All of them were quieter, ashamed of what had happened, but she kept her head high.

She answered every question in class, worked hard to be the head of her year, she wasn't going to feel ashamed about helping Hagrid.

People weren't happy about that either, how dare she be so loud and know-it-all after losing so many points? Mel had to make her way out of her bad reputation soon.

Fred and George weren't bad to her, but they weren't acting as friendly as before. They were impressed about her skill with spells, but they also avoided her in public places. She didn't mind, that way she could focus on gaining more points.

Someone was definitely not avoiding her though, now that she'd helped Slytherin to go back on its first place. As a matter of fact, he seemed excited about their friendship now more than ever.

"Morning, Miss," Erick sat next to her during the morning break, "how's life going when you're one of the most hated people at school?"

"Could be worse," She said shortly, "Harry's miserable as well as Hermione and Neville. I'm not. I owe nothing to the rest of the students."

"Slytherin is beyond happy right now," He replied gleefully, "particularly Malfoy. If it wasn't for your major _faux pas_ they'd be terribly mad at him, but he keeps saying it was thanks to him that you lost all those points... It isn't true is it?"

"He got caught before he could actually find us," Mel replied with annoyance, "Could you leave? If you're only here to brag about Slytherin's victory you can do that another time, I'm not in the mood."

"Calm down, I'm just teasing," He rolled his eyes.

"You never talk to me, but now suddenly you're so talkative," She snarled, "Sorry if I confused your friendly teasing with being an idiot."

"Well yes, you're forgiven," He chuckled. When he noticed Mel wasn't amused, he added, "I'm just seizing the opportunity to openly talk to a friend, it'll go away as soon as you save five kittens from the whomping willow or some bizarre adventure of sorts. I know you have a luck for that."

"Well I wish I had the luck to be left alone when I want to," She replied, "just go away!"

He stood up, as he started to walk away he added:

"I'll stop talking to you until things get better. Or I'll just stop talking to you altogether, who knows?" Erick said it carelessly, but his fists were clenched.

Mel didn't answer, she didn't know what she wanted.

Through the course of a month, Mel won thirty points for Gryffindor. It wasn't enough but she was doing her part, she would keep on working at least until they reached the third place.

Quirrell had given up and Snape was one step closer to get what he wanted. She had promised she wouldn't mingle in foreign matters, she needed to win more points for her house. So she decided to stay out of it.

Harry thought the same, he forced himself to forget about the subject and kept on studying. The only person that seemed disappointed was Ron, who couldn't wait to have another adventure.

Harry, Mel, Hermione, and Neville got a note during breakfast:

_'Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight._

_Meet Mr Filch in the Entrance Hall.  
_

_Prof. M. McGonagall'_

"Brilliant," Mel groaned, angrily biting her turkey sandwich.

________________________________

"Follow me," said Filch once they were gathered outside, "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh? Oh yes ... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me ... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out ... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed ... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

Mel had a lot of opinions about all that, but she decided to keep it to herself, she was already drowning in troubles.

Their detention consisted of something easy: Hagrid would take them to the forbidden forest, yet she didn't have any idea as to why. Malfoy tried to refuse, it was fun to see his little cold eyes filled with horror.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy.

"There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," squeaked Malfoy.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Mel an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practise now – that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh – so, be careful – let's go."

The groups parted ways, Neville firmly holding Mel's sleeve as they walked through the narrow trees.

"I shouldn't be here," Malfoy spat, "I should've shown them the letter and I'd be out of trouble-"

"You don't have the letter anymore. Even if you did, it would look like you made it up to get out of your punishment," Mel replied calmly, "stop whining"

"I suppose you must feel quite at home surrounded by beasts"

"Yes, and a rat like you must be terrified, you could be attacked at any moment," She rolled her eyes, "shut up, you'll attract the werewolves you love so dearly..."

Malfoy for the first time ever listened to her and stayed quiet. Neville was starting to hurt her arm, she gently asked him to stop and stepped away, shivering. 

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when Malfoy decided to scare Neville, sneaking up and jumping on his back. Neville got so scared that he shot red sparks into the air.

"You should've seen your face!" Draco cackled.

"Stupid!" Mel clenched her fists, "Hagrid is gonna get mad! We shouldn't be causing fuss while we're doing this, we won't find anything this way!"

"Who said I wanted to find it?" He frowned, "That's not my job, he's taking advantage of us"

"The same way you take advantage of Crabbe and Goyle cause they're big and can protect you," Mel snapped.

Malfoy barely reacted, shrugging.

"They're too stupid to make it through school on their own."

Mel was too angry to reply, she spent the next five minutes calming Neville and once Hagrid found them he was indeed upset about Malfoy's behavior, he changed the groups for Neville's sake.

Now Harry was coming with them. The blond kid remained quiet now, probably tired or pissed about was wasting his time. Harry and Mel didn't talk much either, they didn't want to disturb the creatures.

The unicorn's blood guided them to a clearing: The creature laid dead shining under the moonlight, one could imagine it was sleeping if it wasn't for the pool of blood surrounding its body.

Mel and Harry approached when a cloaked figure appeared crawling over to the animal, drinking the blood from its wound.

Malfoy let out a high, terrified scream as he ran away with Fang beside him, Mel and Harry stood there, terrified. Harry yelped in pain, a hand on his forehead. 

He stumbled back and fell to his knees, only then Mel found herself capable to move, kneeling next to the boy and trying to uncover his face.

"What's wrong?" She yelled, hands cold as ice when she touched him.

The sound of hooves approaching and a tall figure jumping above them distracted her... a _centaur_. Mel watched as he scared the creature away, protecting them from whatever it was that thing.

"Harry," She stammered, looking back at the boy, "l-let me see!"

Harry looked up as the centaur got closer, helping them to their feet.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes – thank you – what was that?"

The centaur was staring at Harry's scar, she would've said something if he hadn't just saved their lives.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The Forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way," Then he looked over to Mel, icy blue eyes reading her carefully, "You vibrate. What's your name?"

It was a really odd thing to say, but Mel assumed centaurs were strange like that.

"Mel Dumbledore," She stretched out her hand, but the centaur didn't take it.

He nodded, "My name is Firenze." 

He kneeled so they could climb over on his back.

Once they were seated, galloping echoed through the trees and soon enough two more centaurs appeared in front of them.

"Firenze!" One thundered. "What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realise who these are?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The girl is Dumbledore's descendant. The quicker they leave this Forest, the better"

"What have you been telling him? Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," The second centaur spoke up.

"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our Forest!"

Firenze reared on to his hind legs, Mel had to hold onto Harry's waist and he grabbed Firenze's shoulders.

"Do you not see that unicorn? Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this Forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

Firenze then galloped away.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"

Firenze did not answer, he kept going and spoke only to make sure Harry and Mel kept their heads low to avoid hanging branches. Her mind was starting to divert when he spoke up.

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," said Harry, "We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions."

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

"But who'd be that desperate? If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Philosopher's Stone! Of course – the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who –"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

Mel didn't have to think, there was only one man who was capable of such horrors.

"Voldemort," She said in certainty.

"Harry! Mel! Are you all right?"

Hermione was running towards them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.

"We're fine," said Harry, with a dry voice, "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."

Harry and Mel slid off his back.

"Thank you," Mel replied, "I hope we didn't get you in trouble for this"

"Don't worry about me, young Dumbledore. Worry about the dangers that might reach you," Without explaining, he turned to Harry, "Good luck, Harry Potter. The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

___________________________

Harry was very agitated when they returned to the common room, he paced up and down as he told Ron and Hermione what happened in the forest, -with few interventions from Mel- he was sure he'd figured things out.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort ... and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest ... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich ..."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a whisper.

But Harry was in his own head.

"Firenze saved us, but he shouldn't have done ... Bane was furious ... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen ... They must show that Voldemort's coming back ... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me ... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.

"Not saying the name it's silly," Mel countered, sitting still in her place.

"-So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone, then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off ... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

"Don't say that!" This time, it was Mel who reacted to what Harry said, "You won't die, think about a second where you're standing."

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of," Hermione agreed, "With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"Maybe with humans it is," Mel shifted uncomfortably on her place, "but we don't know how it works with other creatures, who knows, they might perceive things differently."

"What do you mean?" Asked Harry uneasy.

Mel stood up and put a hand on his shoulder, it was the first time in weeks that didn't feel awkward to have contact with him.

"It means we know nothing... but we'll figure it out."


	17. Harry's Plans.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Ignoring the fact that there was a murderer chasing down her best friend, Mel was having a smooth end of year.' 

Ignoring the fact that there was a murderer chasing down her best friend, Mel was having a smooth end of year. 

But she couldn't ignore that. Not now that Harry was in constant pain, scar stinging at random moments.

"It's okay, I know it hurts," Mel whispered, softly stroking his back, "we'll fix this, we'll find a way..."

Harry didn't say a thing, he just nodded and thank her under his breath once the pain was gone. It wasn't much, but she knew it was a big deal for him.

Erick, on the other hand, kept his word. He wouldn't talk to her, not even to say sorry if he accidentally bumped her shoulder as he walked passed. She knew him very little, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

On a brighter note, Mel was certain she'd get an almost perfect grade (she didn't think Snape would be fair) and she couldn't wait to get the notes so she could write a letter to her mum with the good news. She hadn't talked to her mother in about a month.

Mel was reluctant to tell her about the troubles she'd gotten into. A voice in the back of her mind kept telling her _'So what? She lied to you for ten years, she doesn't have to know everything now'_

She held onto that thought for as long as she could.

On the last day of revision, the four children went down to the lake. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were playing with the giant squid when they saw Mel approaching with her friends.

"We heard you won like forty-five points for Gryffindor this month," George said as soon as she arrived, "that must be a record, it's almost the same amount we _lose_ in a month"

"I was fixing my mistakes," She shrugged, "you're speaking to me again?"

"We never stopped! Charlie sent us a letter telling us about what you did to help Hagrid," Fred added, "that was brilliant!"

"It was Harry's idea..."

"We figured it'd be someone else's," George grinned, "we know you're smarter than that, though you did get caught in the end"

"Not _before_ though," She teased, "and if I've learned anything from you, that's the important part"

"You've been teaching her to misbehave?" Lee Jordan raised a brow, "Dumbledore's grand-daughter, seriously?"

"She's got potential," George shrugged.

"And it's niece, not grand-daughter," Fred added, winking at her.

"We're good now?" Mel inquired.

"'Course, we'll be more than happy to keep you under our wing"

Mel pondered for a moment, she looked back at her friends, noticing Harry's eyes fixated on her and the twins.

"No," She smiled.

"No," George blinked, "Why?"

"McGonagall didn't hesitate when I lied to her that night, she said something was going on when I started hanging out with you"

"And?"

"I think that's enough, you may have a lot to teach but I can't be around you so often. I have to behave. Besides, if I actually start causing trouble on my own, teachers would have it easy"

"Causing trouble on your own?" George laughed, "You're too sweet for that"

"You wouldn't get in trouble on purpose," Fred agreed.

"We'll see about that," Mel smiled, "Have a nice day!"

Fred and George were a little surprised to be rejected again, though at least it was in a much more friendly tone this time. She reached her friends at the exact moment Harry blurted out:

"I wish I knew what this means! My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this."

She sat quietly beside him, brows furrowed.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not ill, I think it's a warning ... it means danger's coming ..."

"Danger came already," Mel shook her head "it's been nagging since day one..."

"Guys, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

They didn't keep the subject going, too tired to argue.

"What did Fred and George asked you now?" Harry inquired.

"Nothing," Mel shrugged, "they wanted to apologize, apparently Charlie sent them a letter telling them what we did and decided I wasn't so bad after all"

"Norbert," Harry suddenly straightened up, " _Norbert!"_

He stood up without adding a word to it.

"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.

"I've just thought of something," said Harry.

He had gone white.

"We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" Hermione was now up too.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"Oh-!" Mel jumped to her feet, running beside him.

"What are you on about?" said Ron, getting up. None of them answered.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut across him.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno, he wouldn' take his cloak off. It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head– that's one of the pubs down in the village. Mightabin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ..."

"And did he – did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, Mel was holding to his robes.

"Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –" His face turned white in horror, "I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?'"

________________________________

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak – it must've been easy once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

All looked at her with questioning eyes.

"What now, because I'm a Dumbledore I know?" She frowned, "I've never been to his office"

"What are you four doing inside?" McGonagall asked, appearing beside them.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione.

"See Professor Dumbledore? Why?"

"It's sort of secret," Harry blurted out, Mel felt the urgent need to punch him.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she replied coldly, "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time –"

"But this is important."

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look, Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –"

Mel's heart skipped a beat, Professor McGonagall dropped the books she was carrying.

"How do you know –?" she stammered.

"Professor, I think – I know – that Sn– that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor –"

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But once she was out of sight, Harry was quick to elaborate a plan.

__________________________

The plan failed.

Mel and her friends were kids, they didn't know what to do at this point and they were taking desperate measures. Harry confirmed it after they all went back to the common room.

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said, "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"Oh, Glasses," Mel groaned, passing a hand over her face.

"You're mad!" said Ron.

"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted, "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts!-"

If there was something Mel hated more than people being mean to Harry, was Harry in a bad mood. He was even more temperamental than her, they had gotten into a large list of arguments thanks to that. It drove her crazy.

Harry finished his yelling a moment later, he glared at them and she glared back, contemplating their options. They locked eyes and she didn't budge, deep in thought. She knew there was no way she could convince Harry to stay out of it.

"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," He said. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"But will it cover all four of us?" said Ron.

"All – all four of us?"

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"

"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful ..."

"But if we get caught, you will be expelled, too."

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

"You forget the most important part 'Mione," Mel stood up, patting Harry's back and winking, "you got a _Dumbledore_ on your side."

______________________________________

"Better get the Cloak," Ron muttered as Lee Jordan finally left. Harry ran upstairs to their dormitory.

He ran back down to the common room in a matter of seconds.

"We'd better put the Cloak on here, and make sure it covers all four of us – if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own –"

"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room.

Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the Cloak behind his back.

Mel realized Harry wasn't as good of an actor as she'd first thought.

"You're going out again," he said.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."

"Neville, please-" Mel stepped forward.

"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll – I'll fight you!"

"Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot –"

"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."

"He has a point," Mel sighed, "look, Neville, I know it's hard to understand but we're not trying to do anything bad-"

Ron took a step forward.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"

Oh, that sweet, brave boy.

Harry turned to Hermione.

"Do something," he said desperately.

Hermione stepped forward.

"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."

She raised her wand.

_"Petrificus Totalus!"  
_

Mel ran to him and caught his body, softly laying him on the ground.

"To be fair, this is the nicest way we could get you out of the way"

_______________________________

It took them a while, -and Harry's marvelous impression of the Bloody Baron- but they finally reached the third floor.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the Cloak, I won't need it now."

"Since when you're the hero?" Mel tilted her head, smirking, "You don't actually believe I'll let you have all the glory, do you?"

"Don't be stupid," said Ron.

"We're coming," said Hermione.


	18. A Dark Revelation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'They were about to enter the trapdoor, Harry had the flute Hagrid gave him on Christmas -Mel thought that was very clever- and played it until the dog fell asleep. Ron informed them that the only way to get in was by just jumping. Of course, Harry went first.'

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry, "Well, here goes ..."

They were about to enter the trapdoor, Harry had the flute Hagrid gave him on Christmas -Mel thought that was very clever- and played it until the dog fell asleep. Ron informed them that the only way to get in was by just jumping. Of course, Harry went first.

He handed the flute to Hermione and got inside until he was barely holding himself with the tip of his fingers.

"If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," said Ron.

"See you in a minute, I hope..."

He jumped, and part of Mel's stomach dropped too as she watched him disappear into the darkness.

A muffled thump got to their ears, they waited.

"It's OK! It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Mel moved Ron aside and jumped without hesitation.

"Oof!" She grunted, touching her surroundings, "What's this?"

Ron fell between them, mimicking her actions.

"What's this stuff?"

"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!" Harry urged.

Hermione jumped. Mel's eyes were getting accustomed to the darkness when she felt the roots of the plant slowly creeping up her legs, only then she recognized the plant.

"Oh no," She gulped, trying to kick it out but only worsening her situation.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is – it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.

Mel thought deeply, she knew the answer! She spent a whole week studying it!

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling as it curled around his chest.

" _Light_!" Mel yelled, but her voice was muffled out because the plant was now starting to cover her mouth.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare ... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp –"

"So light a fire!" Harry choked.

"Yes – of course – but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and conjured a blue fire.

The kicked the plant and pushed it away, standing up.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry.

Mel only felt a tad jealous after hearing his compliment.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis – _there's no wood_ , honestly."

"There's no time to argue," Mel moved.

"This way," said Harry pointing down a stone passageway.

The second room had winged keys, from the thousands flying above them, only one could open the door to the next room. They grabbed four broomsticks that were laying next to the wall and prepared for what was next.

They tried to catch as many keys as possible in order to try them on the handle, but it wasn't necessary, after a minute in the air Harry shouted:

"That one! That big one – there – no, there – with bright blue wings – the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

After a failed attempt by Ron, Harry distributed his friends around the room: Ron above, Hermione under, Mel and him circling around the key.

"NOW!"

The children moved at the same time, Mel made sure to get in the way of the key without making it harder for Harry, forcing it towards a wall, where eventually Harry pinned it.

They landed, the boy turned the key and opened the door, at first it was just as dark as the last, but then lights went on, revealing a huge chessboard.

"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces, they could see a door.

"How?" said Hermione.

"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.

"Do we – er – have to join you to get across?"

The black knight nodded. Ron turned to them.

"This wants thinking about... I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces... Now, don't be offended or anything, but you are not that good at chess –"

"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"We could die, it's better if we listen to someone who knows," Mel agreed.

"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle. Mel, you stand there as pawn."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.

While they were talking, the pieces Ron had mentioned left their place for them, they could start playing.

In years to come, Mel would think about that moment and still feel extremely impressed with Ron's skills, he thought every move and saved them from getting hurt several times. They were winning!

 _Until_...

"Yes..." said Ron softly, "it's the only way... I've got to be taken."

"NO!" They shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I'll make my move and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But –"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron –"

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

There was nothing else to say.

"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go –now, don't hang around once you've won." Ron was right. 

He was also unconscious in the corner of the room. The kids passed next to his body, Mel felt desperate to finish the whole thing, they couldn't waste more time.

"What if he's –?"

"He'll be all right," said Harry, "What do you reckon's next?"

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare – Flitwick must've put charms on the keys – McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive – that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's ..."

"If Snape didn't take it down already," Mel added.

"All right?" Harry whispered.

"Go on." And Harry opened the door.

It was a _troll_.

Luckily for them, he was already on the floor. Mel couldn't tell if he was still alive, but they didn't stick around enough to find out.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered, "Come on, I can't breathe."

He pulled open the next door.

"Snape's," said Harry, examining the little bottles in front of them, "What do we have to do?"

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. They looked over her shoulder to read it, "Brilliant. This isn't magic – it's logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"But so will we, won't we?"

"Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?"

"Give me a minute," They waited as she muttered to herself, pointing at the bottles and walking from one side to the other, "Got it! The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire – towards the Stone."

"There's only enough there for one of us, two at most," he said.

"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?" Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

"You and Mel drink that," said Harry. "No, listen – get back and get Ron – grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy – go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him really."

"But Harry – what if You-Know-Who's with him?"

"Well – I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."

"I'm not leaving," Mel frowned, "you're out of your mind if you think I'm leaving you behind."

Before Harry could reply, Hermione threw herself at him.

"Hermione!"

"Harry – you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, he was bright red.

"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!"

"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"

"Positive," said Hermione.

She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered.

"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.

"No – but it's like ice."

"Quick, go, before it wears off. Mel, you drink it as well and I'll meet you in a while"

"Good luck – take care –"

"GO!"

He turned around before Mel. When he grabbed the tiny bottle, Mel snatched it from his hands and drank half of the liquid in it.

"Mel!" Harry gasped, "No!"

"I don't like you when you get bossy," She replied, giving back the bottle, "did you really believe I would let you go alone?"

"That's what I told you to do!"

"You don't tell me what to do!" Mel replied just as angry, "I intend to keep my promise!"

"Your promise won't matter if you die!" He yelled.

"Ron said it before, we must take risks, we have to sacrifice things to save others..." She huffed, "Glasses, there's no point. I took the potion and now you have to do it."

"I'll wait until yours wears off."

"You'd be wasting time that can't be wasted," She offered her hand, "I know you'll forgive me"

Harry hesitated, in the end, he drank what was left in the bottle and shivered terribly.

"You're annoying," He gulped, "how did you drink that? It's like ice!"

He reached for her hand and took it.

"I know," Mel said with a guilty smile, "I just wanted you to think it wasn't so I could see your face when you drank it"

Harry glared at her and moved forward, Mel following close.

The flames engulfed them, but she barely felt a thing.

When they entered, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"You!" Harry yelled at Quirrell.

" _Me_. I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter," He threw a disinterest glance at Mel, "you certainly are a surprise..."

"But I thought – Snape –"

"Severus?' Quirrell laughed, "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st- stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

"But Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, no, no. I tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."

"Snape was trying to save me?"

"Of course. Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really ... he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular ... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."

"No!" Mel, out of pure impulsiveness, grabbed Harry and pushed him behind her.

She was scared. That's why, later when people asked her what had happened, she couldn't explain.

It was as if something had gotten into her, or _out_ of her as she stood in front of Quirrell. All her fear cast out as a defense mechanism, a wave of _something_ hitting Quirrell and sending him to the other end of the room.

Quirrell found himself on the floor, confused and looking at her with more interest. Mel was exhausted, that wave had drained all her energy, she was barely able to stand.

"That," Quirrell whispered furiously as he stood up, "was a _very_ bad idea, Miss Dumbledore"

It was too much for her body.

"I should get rid of you before you cause more trouble with your little _tricks..._ "

"No!" Exclaimed Harry, but it was too late.

Quirrell raised his hand and Mel felt an invisible hand closing tightly around her throat, lifting her inches from the ground, then feet... then he moved his fist and slammed her against a wall.

The last thing she heard before everything went black was a loud crack on the back of her head.


	19. Fixing Mistakes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Erick told her what he knew, most of it sounded like utter nonsense but she recognized some parts as true. The last bit was confusing, she hoped Harry could wake up soon so he could tell her the rest.'

It was a dream, it had to be. 

She didn't feel pain, everything was silent.

Unless... unless she wasn't _alive_.

Mel opened her eyes at once and tried to sit up, she held her head in pain, closing her eyes to control the feeling.

"You're up," Someone said sternly.

Erick was sitting next to her bed. He was on the edge of his seat, scared of her sudden awakening.

"Flint?" She asked in confusion, "What?- _How?_ "

"It's been a day," Erick sat back, "I mean, it's been a day since you visit the third floor. You fractured your skull."

"I'm alive?" She asked bewildered.

"You were lucky," He stated, "Dumbledore found you and Harry just in time"

"Harry," She sat again, trying to leave the bed, "where is he? Did he stop Quirrell? _Ouch!_ "

"Stop!" Erick scowled at her, standing up and forcing her to lay again, "Pomfrey will kick me out if you get all lousy... Potter's fine."

He pulled one end of the curtain surrounding her bed and revealed the one next to hers: Harry was sleeping soundly, fewer scratches on his face.

"Why does my bed have curtains?" She frowned.

"I did it," The boy shrugged, "don't want anyone to see me"

"Oh," Mel mumbled, "if you don't want to talk to me then why are you here?"

"I didn't say that. I'm saying I don't want trouble. I shut the curtains so no one can spy while I'm here."

"Why are you here?"

"You saved the school."

"Harry did," Mel realized she didn't know what had happened after she lost consciousness, "Uhm, could you perhaps, explain to me how he did it?"

"You were there," Erick tilted his head, "but I guess you did fracture your skull, some memories must be fuzzy..."

Erick told her what he knew, most of it sounded like utter nonsense but she recognized some parts as true. The last bit was confusing, she hoped Harry could wake up soon so he could tell her the rest.

"Everyone thinks you're a hero. You and Potter. And let's say I... I felt guilty."

"Okay," She nodded, "well, I'm sorry I treated you badly. I was upset and things weren't going like I wanted to."

"I wasn't apprehensive either when I teased you about losing. I hope you still consider to keep our friendship"

"It would still be a secret, I suppose..."

"My parents wouldn't approve," Erick lowered his head, "my brother would kick my face if he found out, but you're worthy of my trust and I would be happy to have you around, I hope you can-"

"I do," Mel said, "it's nice of you to come and check on me, considering how you're not exactly used to care about others"

"We're good now?" He stretched out his hand, "You won't have to doubt me ever again"

"Alright," Mel shook his hand, "you should get out of here before any of my friends see you, though. They'll try to fight you thinking you're upsetting me."

Erick smirked.

"Have a good night, Miss."

"Goodnight."

________________________

Friends visited through the day, Miss Pomfrey allowed her to leave the hospital wing that night but Mel was reluctant to leave, she wanted to stay and wait for Harry to wake up.

McGonagall had to take her outside.

"You can come back tomorrow," McGonagall guided her to the Great Hall, "tonight you must go back to your tower."

When Mel arrived at the Great Hall, she was welcomed by a bunch of students that wanted to shake her hand and ask her about what happened, she was overwhelmed with the attention and couldn't sit down until the twins pushed the kids away and took her to Ron and Hermione.

She was glad to see her friends. Ron was healthy and good as new, he complained a lot when Mel hugged him and kissed his cheek, although he looked quite pleased afterwards.

When Mel arrived that night to the common room, Angelina Johnson was waiting for her.

"Mel! I'm so happy you're alright," The girl smiled, "I wanted to go to the hospital wing to give it to you, but Pomfrey wouldn't let me."

"Give me what?" Mel frowned.

"Harry didn't tell you?" She raised her brows, "Oh, I guess he didn't have time... he came to me one night and told me you were fond of Lucy, my cat."

"Oh, is she yours?" Mel beamed, "She's lovely! How is she?"

"Well, she had her kittens weeks ago, I already gave away most of them but Harry asked me to keep one so he could give it to you as an early birthday present, but the school year is about to end and..."

Angelina didn't say it, but Mel knew what she meant. Harry wasn't there, and they didn't know _when_ he would return.

"Thanks," She said with a hoarse voice, "He... he really asked you?"

"Yes, look..." She grabbed a small box.

A tiny black cat was looking up to her, it had small green eyes and the cutest nose.

Mel teared up, holding the kitten on her arms.

"It's beautiful," She sniffed, "thank you..."

"Don't thank me," Angelina stroke her arm, "he'll get better, you'll see."

Mel couldn't sleep that night.

_____________________________

Next morning she asked Neville to look after her kitten -She named it Grey, thinking it was funny to call a black cat a different color, and as a way of honoring his mummy- and spend her entire morning next to Harry's bed, half-asleep and holding his hand, hoping he would grab it to let her know he was conscious.

When she woke up tense and sore, it took her a few seconds to notice she wasn't alone.

"I see you didn't sleep well last night," Dumbledore spoke up, "pitty, you have gone through plenty of trouble these days"

"Professor Dumbledore," Mel stood up, unsure of how to act around him, "I-Uh-I was worried. Harry, you see... He hasn't woken up since that night"

"I see," Dumbledore got closer, "maybe we can do something about it..." He put a hand on the boy's forehead. 

Harry's sleepy eyes opened, he looked around and his stare landed on Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore.

The boy reacted fast.

"Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick –"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore, "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does? Sir, I –"

"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."

The boy then noticed movement behind Dumbledore and his face mixed with both, confusion and relief at seeing his friend.

"Mel?"

"Glasses!" The girl hugged him, not as tight as she would have liked, she was scared of hurting him, "You've been unconscious for days! I thought... I'm so glad you're awake!"

"Days?" He wondered, when Mel stepped back he saw the table next to him, full of all kinds of gifts.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days. Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried, just like my niece."

"But sir, the Stone –"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

Mel didn't know that part of the story.

"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"

"We must have crossed in mid-air. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you –"

"It was you."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"

"Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you two. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend – Nicolas Flamel –"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them."

"It still is a bit sad," Mel argued, "they weren't hurting anyone and yet they had to sacrifice their lives in order to avoid a bigger problem that didn't have to do with them"

"Some things are harder to quit than others. However, Mel, I recall you almost died trying to protect Harry from Quirrell. I know you understand how we can sacrifice valuable things for the people we love. My friend Nicholas loves the wizarding world as it is, and he does not wish to see more tragedies"

They stayed quiet for a moment, Dumbledore humming an unknown song.

"Sir?" said Harry after a while "I've been thinking ... Sir – even if the Stone's gone, Vol– ... I mean, You-Know-Who –"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share ... not being truly alive, he can- not be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time – and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry nodded.

"Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me ... things I want to know the truth about ..."

"The truth," Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie. I should offer the same to you, Mel. If you also have questions, that is"

"Well ... Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day ... put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older ... I know you hate to hear this ... when you are ready, you will know."

Mel didn't like that, it sounded hard, difficult. Something a child could not possibly understand without breaking apart.

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Mel noticed that Harry had tears in his eyes. She'd never seen him cry, not in a long time and so out of the blue. It usually had to do with Dudley punching him, not with feelings. She searched for his hand, hoping he wouldn't push it away.

He didn't.

"And the Invisibility Cloak – do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah – your father happened to leave it in my possession and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things ... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

"And there's something else ..."

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape –"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yes, him – Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

'Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?"

"He saved his life."

"What?"

"Yes ..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt ... I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace ..."

"That doesn't sound polite," She mumbled, "now that I think about it... I do have a question."

"Yes?"

"Before Quirrell attacked me, I did... well, I don't know if _I_ did it"

"You did," Harry looked at her intently, "I felt it. It was... strange"

Mel looked at them before continuing.

"I did something without my wand," She explained, "it felt like the things I would do whenever I was scared or angry before I knew I was a witch, I couldn't control it..."

Dumbledore's eyes shifted for a moment, if she had known him better, she would've recognized that look as one of fear.

"Emotions are a powerful thing," Dumbledore said finally, "you were overwhelmed by the situation, and desperate to find a solution. Your body acted on its own. It has happened before, some cases... do not end well. I suggest to try and learn to control your mind, it should be you the one making decisions, not your emotions, Mel."

She understood most of it, and that only made her more anxious.

"And sir, there's one more thing ..." Harry said.

"Just the one?"

"How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes ... Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them – but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Earwax!"

Dumbledore left moments after, leaving them alone to talk in peace.

"Why didn't you tell me Angelina owned the cat I liked?" Mel asked.

Harry smiled guiltily.

"I wanted to give you a birthday present in advance. Owls might be dirty, but Emily can't say the same about cats!"

"It was nice of you," Mel beamed, "I named him Grey, he reminds me of you."

Harry frowned.

"You have it now? I wanted- wait, how can he look like me?"

"He's got messy black fur and green eyes"

"And you called him _Grey_?"

"I thought it was funny"

"Obviously," Harry rolled his eyes, grinning, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you personally"

"I'm just happy you're awake," She added, "I also think you're a hero..."

"You are too," Harry replied.

"Your Bloody Baron is perfect! Maybe you should consider working as a professional imitator," She teased.

"Bug off," He laughed, "you know, now that I remember... you never told me what you saw in the mirror"

Mel nearly choked with her chocolate frog.

"That's private."

"Come on! You know mine!" He insisted.

The girl hesitated, then, after finding a solution she replied:

"I saw myself as Headmaster. I was old and smart like Dumbledore, people looked up to me."

"That sounds like you," He agreed, "why were you so upset when you saw it, though? It isn't a bad thing"

"I thought it was embarrassing," She lied, "I know I'm not smart enough to be like him"

"I don't think that," Harry raised a brow, "I think that you could perfectly be it"

She hated his kindness, it wasn't helping the annoying thumping on her chest at all.

"Well, who knows," Mel shrugged, "maybe one day what I saw will be true, Glasses."

"I hope so, _Dumby_ "

"Stooop," She groaned.

"I'll stop when you stop"

She knew that Harry wouldn't have said all those kind words if he had known the truth.

He would've been horrified to know Mel had seen them kissing.

________________________

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron, "Flamel's just going to die?"

He and Hermione arrived at the last hour of the day, the visiting hours were about to end.

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it?" Harry asked her.

" _To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure_ ," Mel quoted.

"I always said he was off his rocker- _ouch!_ " Ron looked angrily at Mel, she had punched his arm, "Now what did I do?"

"Dumbledore's my uncle, be careful with what you say," She warned him.

"So what happened to you?" asked Harry to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round – that took a while – and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall. He already knew – he just said, _'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?'_ and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?' said Ron. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did – I mean to say – that's terrible – you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could ..."

Mel thought differently. Sure, that was kind, but if it was the same with her; how he reacted after knowing what she did... that meant Dumbledore was hoping for the worst on her behalf.

"Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right," said Ron proudly, stepping away from Mel, "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you – but the food'll be good."

"Ah, need me a good feast," Mel sighed dreamily.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.

______________________________

Harry came back just in time for the feast, people whispered and tried to take a good look at him. Mel didn't try to stop them, something told her it was bound to be a constant thing as long as they stayed in the castle. Long six years awaited.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts ... Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, five hundred and twenty-two.'

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and stamping. Mel caught sight of Erick, when he noticed her eyes fixed on him, he winked in complicity.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore, "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ... First – to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The table burst in applause, Mel could faintly hear Percy proudly talking about Ron a few seats behind.

"Second – to Miss Hermione Granger ... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione lowered her face and hid it on her arms. Mel was beaming, she was so proud! Her friend Hermione Granger was just the best.

"To Mel Dumbledore, who gave away her own safety in order to keep others well, loyal 'til the last minute... I award Gryffindor with fifty points"

Mel didn't feel like she deserved so many, comparing to the rest of her friends her actions were minimal, barely something to recognize.

Ron ruffled her hair.

"I guess we could also be not-awful together..."

She laughed, putting an arm around his shoulders.

"Fourth – to Mr Harry Potter ..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The room was loud, Mel had never heard something like it before.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

The kids cheered and jumped, covering Neville in hugs and kind words. Gryffindor had won the house cup, everything was perfect.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

The lion overthrew the snake, scarlet and gold now illuminating the room.

_________________________

Hermione and Mel were top of the year. It wasn't a surprise, she was well aware of her own efforts, the results were good enough.

The way back home was delightful, louder than the first trip. Harry showed her the gift Hagrid had made for him and she admired the first few photographs.

"Why is it that you always get the coolest presents?"

"Hey, you got a cat that looks like me!"

"That was a very narcissistic thing to say, even for the boy-who-lived." Mel teased, "Grey is cool though, that's true"

"Next time I'll make sure to give you the best gift," He assured her, "in person, too."

"Don't even," She shrugged it off, "that would only make me feel worse. As if I could possibly top Harry Potter and his crazy ideas! You'd probably get me a gold cauldron..."

"That was _ONE_ time-!"

__________________________

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "all of you – I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need something to look forward to."

People jostled them as they moved towards the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.

"Still a dummy," Mel added.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry, "well, maybe the dummy part"

They passed through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!" It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron, "Harry Potter! Look, Mum! I can see –"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Mrs Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry.

"I should know," A voice said from behind them, "yesterday I got the longest, most terrifying letter of my whole life listing all the things you did this year, Mel Dumbledore."

Mel froze, her mother circle the group of kids and stared at her expectantly, her arms crossed.

"You have a lot of explaining to do"

"Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs Weasley," Harry moved away from them, afraid of getting the same treatment.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear," Mrs. Weasley nervous too.

"I was worried sick! How could you hide all those things from me?" Her mum asked angrily, "Your uncle had to calm my nerves with a potion, Mel. A _Potion!_ "

"I'm sorry!" Mel pleaded, "I didn't want to worry you!"

"I worry alright! Bloody worried!" She exclaimed, "You won't leave the house in a week- Is that a cat?!"

"I never leave the house!" Mel retorted, hiding the cat's basket behind her back.

"No Harry, then!"

" _What?!"_ Both kids exclaimed.

"Do you want it to be two weeks?" She offered.

They stopped arguing.

"Ready, are you?" It was Mr Dursley, looking as angry and displeased as always.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Mr Dursley, "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

"I'll get the car as well," Emily sighed, controlling her nerves, "it was a pleasure to see you again, Molly. Give me..." Mel handed the trunk and bags to her, keeping Grey in her arms and staying to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione.

"See you over the summer, then."

"Hope you have – er – a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Mr Dursley.

"Oh, I will," said Harry cheerfully, "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. We're going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..."

"At last, you listen to me," Mel smiled, already planning to make Dudley's life a perfect little nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First part done! I'm excited for what's to come, and I promise you it'll get better with time, perhaps a bit angsty if I'm honest, but don't worry, I'll see you in a few days and pls do tell what are your thoughts on this series! -Danny :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!! Dunno how often I'll update the story here, I just know this is an active and lovely community and I hope the fandom isn't as dead as I think it is lol if you like it pls leave a comment! It would mean the world to me :) -Danny


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